Broken Glass
by weneedourheroes
Summary: Pre-Reboot. Stephanie Brown always knew that Tim Drake would hold a special place in her heart, but does he feel the same way? And will Stephanie still have those feelings for Tim when a new player enters her life?
1. The Dream

Ch.1 The Dream

I squinted my eyes as the wind lashed against my face, tangling my hair as I glided across the Gotham skyline. There was honestly nothing like being stories above ground and looking down at the city from above, an anonymous protector observing the night for any disturbances. Normally I would be chatting with Oracle during patrol, but since she had already given me the coordinates to my destination she left me alone to get my head in the game. Oracle intercepted a radio request for assistance from the Gotham police. Those units were en route, transporting Lynx to be deported when someone helped spring her. Being the closest on scene I ran to make sure the cops' efforts weren't for nothing! As soon as I landed on a roof I pull out my binoculars to get a better view of the scene. While I scanned the surrounding buildings I saw them. Two shadows. One was a man wearing a cape and the other was a woman, entwined in an intimate embrace. Their lips inching closer and closer to each other, until the space separating the two specters disappeared. My eyes widened in recognition as I whispered his name, "_Tim_?"

_Beep. Beep. Beep_. I woke up as the noise of my alarm flooded my bedroom. _Why the hell did I even set my alarm, it's nine in the morning on a SATURDAY!_ I didn't have class and Oracle didn't need me until later that evening. I sleepily felt around my bed feeling for my phone and shut the alarm off, hesitating to throw it across my room, remembering that I still needed my crappy cell phone to work. _Geez, when was Bruce going to hook me up with a fancy smart phone like everyone else huh?_ I put the phone down on my eggplant sheets as I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head.

_Why do I keep thinking about it? _It's been a couple of days since that patrol night and I still couldn't get it out of my head. I was certain that it was Tim I saw with the girl who was the new Lynx. Even in a prisoner's uniform, I could see that she was beautiful. Her ebony hair that framed her delicate features danced in the wind as she thanked her rescuer. I didn't need my binoculars notice how Tim looked at her. I couldn't help but feel a tang of jealousy in my chest as I witnessed their kiss. The tears just started to flow and there was nothing I could do to stop them. I ran, I ran off the rooftops and grappled to the adjoining building. I couldn't take it, I commed Oracle, telling her that I couldn't find Lynx or whoever helped her escape and that I was returning.

For the past couple days, I couldn't get that image out of my head. I'm sure that Tim's had relationships with other girls since we broke up, but I was never aware of it. He only recently reappeared in my life, a changed man, no longer the boy I once knew. Bruce's death really affected him, and he was on a mission to prove that his mentor and adoptive father was alive. I helped him put a stop on Ra's Al Ghul's attack on Bruce's legacy. That night, we had a moment where he looked at me and told me that he was _proud_ of me. During that moment we weren't Red Robin or Batgirl, but Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown. During that moment I felt the old connection we had. You couldn't imagine how much I wanted those old sparks back, but the timing wasn't right.

"Stephanie! Breakfast!" my mom shouted, breaking my chain of thought and bringing me back down to reality. I got out of bed and put on a gray Gotham U sweater that came down to my mid-thigh and pulled my blond hair back into a messy ponytail, too lazy to search my battlefield of a room for a brush. I skipped to the bathroom and quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth to get the morning breath taste out of my mouth.

I came down the stairs and turned a corner to reach the kitchen, where my mom had already set the table. Fresh waffles, crispy bacon and two tall glasses of fresh orange juice were waiting for me when entered. I gave my mom a quick good morning kiss and sat down, putting one of my legs under me to sit on. I waited for her to join me before I grabbed my first waffle and piece of bacon. As I began to mercilessly pour syrup onto the waffle, I began to think about my dream and the memory that triggered it.

"Stephanie!" my mom yelled as I looked down and realized that my entire plate was filled with syrup. I must have dozed off, so I quickly stopped pouring and I gave my mom some of the syrup that threatened to overflow off of my plate. Breakfast proceeded rather quietly as I was lost in my thoughts.

My mother broke the silence after she took a sip of orange juice, "Sweetie is everything alright? You're awfully quiet this morning."

"Oh, everything's fine mom, just some stuff on my mind," I couldn't bring this up, not that I really wanted to have the conversation about me witnessing my vigilante ex-boyfriend kissing a beautiful gang leader.

"You sure? Is it a boy?" my mom inquired. She was always on the nose about these things.

"Kinda, it's complicated…" was all I could fess up.

"Well honey, if you like him, just be honest with him, he'd be a fool not to like you back," mom replied. _Geez, why did she have to say the one thing that almost broke down the wall I worked so hard to build?_

"Like I said mom, it's a little more complicated than that," I stated as I picked up my empty plate and glass, depositing them in the sink and leaving to return to my room. As soon as I closed my door, I plopped facedown onto my bed. After loafing around for a couple of minutes, I retrieved my phone and I dialed Barbara's number, realizing that I did need to talk about what happened before I drove myself insane. I listened to the ring inattentively until I heard her voice on the other end.

* * *

During my call to Barbara, I told her that I needed to talk and if we could meet a little earlier today. She quickly obliged and said to be at her place in an hour. I quickly got dressed and made my way to Barbara's apartment. I must have been anxious to talk about my little problem because I ran all the way up the stairs. I tried to catch my breath while I was knocking on the door.

Barbara opened the door and gave me a welcoming smile as she greeted me, "Good afternoon Steph, come on in."

"Thanks," I responded as I entered the apartment. Barbara wheeled herself towards the couch, signaling for me to take a seat. There was a tray of cookies and other sweets on a plate with two cups of coffee set aside on the glass table in the middle of her living room area. I grabbed a cookie and nibbled on it before I sat down and my eyes scanned the place. Barbara's apartment was always so neat, the complete opposite of my room. From the couch, I could see her kitchen with her black coffee maker on the counter, and the hall that led to the bathroom and her bedroom. Everything was neat and organized, not a pillow out of place. I guess that's why we work so well together as Oracle and Batgirl. She's the order to my bubbly brand of chaos.

"So, what's on your mind?" Barbara asked, straight to the point like always. She looked at me, picking up her cup of coffee, waiting for me to speak up. I sat up, biting the corner of my lip as I tried to sort out my feelings and how I wanted to explain myself to Barbara. After a few minutes, I took a deep breath and just decided to go for it.

"Okay, so remember a couple nights ago when you sent me to go find who helped Lynx escape from her police escorts?" Barbara nodded so I continued. "Well I kinda lied when I said that I didn't find them. I actually found both of them as soon as I got to the scene. The thing is, I recognized who helped her escape."

I paused for a minute, and I noticed Barbara staring at me, her eyes urging me to continue. I sighed again as I revealed the name of Lynx's knight in black and red leather. "Tim was the one who helped Lynx escape from Gotham's finest."

It took a minute for my answer to sink in, before Barbara shook her head and replied, "Tim? Tim Drake? Red Robin? He sprang Lynx loose? But he was the one who apprehended her in the first place."

"That's what I thought too!" I shouted. "But that isn't the worst part, the moment I noticed them the two of them were in each other's arms and they kissed." At that moment Barbara coughed up some of her coffee and stifled a laugh.

"Wow, how Batman of him," Barbara chuckled, but quickly composed herself after she saw how my face fell. "So, then if you saw what happened and who helped Lynx escape, why did you report that you couldn't find them and return home?"

That's when it all came out, "Babs, I just broke down… seeing Tim kiss another girl just overwhelmed me ya know? I thought I was okay with it all. I thought that I really needed time to really find who I was and why I wanted to live this life. The last time Tim and I talked, it seemed like he wanted to pick up where things left off. I told him that I needed some space, but I just thought he would wait…"

Before I knew it the tears started to flow and I was sobbing. Barbara laid her hand on mine and looked at me in a comforting way, her eyes betraying the fact that she knew what I was going through all too well.

"Steph, as much as you may not want to right now, you're going to have to talk to Tim about this. You guys have to talk it out and figure out where you two really stand on your relationship. You don't have to do it right away, but soon enough so you can stop tormenting yourself about what you saw," Babs advised. Babs didn't need to say anything else; we just sat there for the moment as I looked through the window's fogged glass.


	2. Ex-Boyfriend Wonder

Ch. 2 Ex-Boyfriend Wonder

_It's a good thing that Gotham's thugs never seem to take a holiday, or else my Sunday night would be a lot more boring. I just caught a group of punks trying to mug an old lady. I mean c'mon, how low can you go?_ As soon as I dropped down into the alleyway I could tell they were scared. I guess that's the perk of having a bat on my chest. While the thugs were stunned, the lady took the opportunity to escape. Unfortunately they weren't scared for long and decided to rush me. I quickly blocked the leader's punch and flipped him on his back, effectively knocking him out. The next three guys thought it would be smart to surround me; they were armed with knives, chains and a broken bottle. They started to yell some tasteless curses trying to psych me out. I answered with a smirk and pulled out my boomstick, ready for the charging opponents. I dodged the knife slashes as I sidestepped and struck the chain-wielding thug in the head, knocking him out. The thug with the broken bottle attempted to thrust his weapon at my stomach. I flipped over him and kicked him in the back, causing him to crash into the wall. As I completed my flip, I threw a batarang that electrocuted the last thug, causing him to drop his knife and collapse on the floor. As the last thug stopped squirming, I contacted Proxy to call the cops to pick these guys up. However, while I was talking with Proxy, I completely missed the fact that the leader regained consciousness and pulled a gun.

"Batgirl watch out!" I heard a gruff voice yell as a throwing disc collided with the gun. The next thing I noticed was a flash of red and black as the source of the voice kicked the thug out cold. The gruff voice spoke again, "You should've been more careful, he could have shot you."

"I'll be sure to be more aware of my surroundings next time, thanks again Red Robin," I grumbled as I concealed my weapon. I definitely could not deal with his condescension right now. It's been about a month since I spoke with Barbara and I still haven't confronted Tim about what I saw. Sure when I was around him, I acted cool and I still helped him when he needed a hand on a mission, but I still felt awkward. A few moments of silence passed between us, until the oncoming police sirens broke it.

"Anyway I need to go stop Lynx before her gang does something stupid, are you alright here?" Tim asked. I simply nodded, however I didn't let him see my eyes widen when he told me this evening's plans. _He was going to see Lynx again?_ Tim shot his grappling hook and he was pulled away, saying a simple goodbye before disappearing into the night. The cops were already here, so my job was more or less done. I decided to follow him, so I shot my grappling hook onto the top of the building and trailed him. That's when I heard the comm link in my mask go off.

"Where are you going?" Proxy questioned. _Crap, I completely forgot that I was talking to her before that thug pulled the gun on me._

"I'm following Tim," I confessed. Why lie to Proxy? She could tell where I was anyway.

"You do know that following him kinda makes you a stalker ex-girlfriend," Proxy accused.

"Take that back! I'm not a stalker, I'm just making sure that Tim is alright!" I feigned. In reality, I was kinda stalking Tim. I needed to make sure that he didn't try anything funny with Lynx. Maybe they didn't really kiss that night? Maybe my eyes deceived me. It was dark and I could have misinterpreted why they were so close to each other. In any case, tonight's as good a night as any to talk to him.

"Whatever you say Steph, just be careful, okay?" Proxy insisted. Proxy - Wendy Harris - was also a child of a criminal, trying to make a difference in the hero business. You could say that we're kindred spirits. She's been through a lot with the loss of both her legs and her brother. Whenever Oracle is too busy to be my eye in the sky, Proxy is more than happy to keep tabs on me.

"Always am," I replied before there was radio silence between us, leaving me to the privacy of my thoughts. I kept a few buildings between Tim and me so that he wouldn't recognize me tailing him. Tim continued to run until he reached a run down warehouse, where Lynx's hideout should be and entered it. Since I didn't want Tim to know that I waited for him to come out of the hideout, I stayed a few rooftops away and waited patiently.

It only took a few minutes before I heard a crash coming from the gang's hideout. I saw Lynx tackling Tim out of a window, the couple falling through the air struggling against each other. Through the flurry of punches and blocks, I noticed that Tim started to relax, and a smile spread across his lips. The two of them in the air looked almost like an intimate dance. Tim's cape seemed to engulf Lynx, bringing her closer to him. Before the two of them fell too close to the pavement, Tim launched his grappling hook, pulling him and Lynx to safety. I saw Tim bring them to a nearby rooftop; their landing caused them to roll around in order to safely stop their motion. Tim was on top of her, his breathing erratic. As he bent down Tim removed Lynx's mask, prompting her to raise her head in order to meet his lips halfway. Their mouths intertwined in a battle for dominance. I couldn't help but feel the warmth rush to my face as I stared. This was really happening. My eyes didn't play tricks on me the last time I saw them. _Why was he kissing her? Why did I care so much? Why couldn't I look away? Tim was a big boy now; and he could kiss whomever he wanted._ Before I knew it I was standing one rooftop away from them, oblivious to the fact that they had stopped their little make out session, and were looking straight at me.

"Batgirl?" Tim questioned in a voice that was between his Red Robin voice and his regular one. Tim had promptly stood up and helped Lynx onto her feet, positioning her behind him in a protective manner. _Well damn, I was caught._ I decided that it was a good a time as any for that heart to heart. I jumped across the crevice to meet Tim. He was the first to break the silence, his voice like sandpaper, "What are you doing here? I thought you were cleaning up after those thugs back there."

"The cops got there not to long after you left. So I thought I'd tag along and help you out with Lynx. But it looks like you have her pretty preoccupied," I snapped. I could see Lynx behind Tim give me the evil eye. I moved my gaze from Lynx back to Tim, his scowl unchanged.

"Lynx is actually an undercover officer from Hong Kong, we were just comparing notes about what was going on in Gotham's underground. She's on our side," Tim spat. I couldn't believe it. Tim just completely disregarded the fact that I caught him making out with Lynx on a rooftop.

"How can you even be sure that she's telling you the truth, huh? How can you trust her?" I couldn't contain myself; everything from the past month was just erupting now. I saw Lynx perk up in an attempt to defend herself, but Tim put his hand up stopping her in her tracks.

"I talked with Black Bat about it while I was in Hong Kong and she confirmed that the Hong Kong police was using teenage operatives for undercover assignments," Tim said matter-of-factly. Then he turned around to Lynx whispering something to her, she nodded and brought her hands to his face bringing him into another kiss. I swear I saw her eyes dart over to me, a smirk curling over her lips as she released Tim from her embrace. She then replaced her mask on her face and jumped off of the rooftop, blending into Gotham's darkness.

"What the hell was that about Tim!" I gasped. At that moment I noticed Tim's shoulders loosen and his scowl ease itself off of his face. He then started to walk over to me. I instinctively took a step back, distancing myself from a man I no longer seemed to know.

"Steph, I asked her to leave so we can have some time alone to talk. I owe you an explanation," Tim confessed, switching to his regular voice.

"The hell you do! What the hell were you doing with Lynx in the first place? Better yet, why did you help her escape from the cops?" I blurted out.

Taken aback, Tim continued to walk towards me, and this time I didn't step back. A confused look painted his cowl-covered face. "I felt like it was the right thing to do."

"Oh is it because she lets you kiss her? I saw you guys the night you sprung her, but I didn't want to believe it," I shouted. The tears started running down my cheeks, carving wet trenches over the dirt and blood that accumulated over the course of my patrol.

"Steph, you need to know that I believe she can be an ally on the inside. She can help me fight," Tim pleaded, obviously disturbed by the fact that his transgressions had hurt me so much.

"And what do I do Tim! What am I even here for? Can't I help you fight?" I cried as I threw my hands up in utter frustration. This was getting to be too much for me. The city's cold night air stung like knives when colliding with my tear ravaged face.

"You know that you're one of my most valued allies Steph, I trust you with my life. I just wish I could understand why you're sounding so jealous," Tim recited nonchalantly, his previous concern wiped off of his face. It was like he didn't understand what was going through my head right now. Was he even there the last time we had an intimate conversation?

"You're wondering why I'm so jealous? Damn it Tim, I've seen you kiss Lynx three times! Every time was like a twist in the knife that you buried in my heart. I still love you." The last part was a whisper. I thought that if he couldn't hear my confession it would be like I never admitted it to myself.

Tim was surprised; he took a minute to gather his thoughts before he spoke again. "I still love you too, Steph, but you made it clear that you needed time. This is me giving you time and space to work out whatever you need to."

"So you start kissing the next bimbo you find? This is what you call giving me space?!" I was completely stunned by his response. For being a great detective, Tim was taking a pretty long time to realize why I was upset.

"What is it Steph? What did you want me to do?" Tim sighed in defeat. It looked like he was annoyed by our conversation. ANNOYED.

"I wanted you to wait for me. I wanted you to fight for me. I wanted you to prove to me that you meant what you said that night when we stopped Ra's al Ghul's attack!" That was the last straw. I completely broke down; tears came cascading down my face. I ran. It seemed like I've been doing a lot of running lately. Running from my emotions, running from my broken heart, running from Tim. I didn't look back as I jumped off of the rooftop and launched my grappling hook to latch onto an adjacent building. After a few minutes of running, I realized that Tim didn't even follow me. _I sure know how to pick 'em._

I needed to clear my head, so I decided to make my way back home. I needed a shower and wanted to curl up in a ball on my bed. I realized that I should make my way to Firewall before I returned home, since I needed to clean my blood stained costume. I dried my face and cleaned off the tears as I contacted Proxy to let her know what my plan was. Unfortunately I seem to be a magnet for trouble, because about two blocks away from home base I witnessed some of Two-Face's men starting trouble at the local bar. They were pretty full of themselves too, bragging that they worked for Two-Face. Man the quality of thugs wasn't getting any better. I huffed; _I guess I could stop one more ruckus before I turned in for the evening._ I waited for the two goons to get far enough from the bar so I could take them down. They walked away looking pretty smug after roughing up the bartender and stealing a couple of bottles of liquor. I decided to sneak up behind them and freak them out.

"Isn't it a little late for you to be drinking so much, boys?" My comment caused both men to jump. Of course they were twins, they were perfect goons to work for Two-Face. When they regained their composure one of the brothers threw his bottle at me. I simply dodged the bottle as it came towards me. My mistake was underestimating these two thugs thinking they were complete idiots; in the split second it took me to dodge the liquor bottle the thug quickly replaced it in his hand, revealing a gun and shot off a couple rounds. I was able to dodge the first couple of bullets, but then I felt a searing pain tear at my shoulder. I looked down to see that one of the bullets went clean through my right shoulder, breaking through the Kevlar and tearing through my skin. The pain was unbearable; I grasped my shoulder after I threw a couple of batarangs in an attempt to disarm the gunman. However, my vision instantly blurred as the other bottle collided with my skull, breaking the bottle and showering me with the contents. My face burned as I felt broken glass embedded in my skin and the alcohol seeping into every cut that I've accumulated throughout the night. I was slipping in and out of consciousness while the two thugs were talking.

"Ha! Not so tough now are ya bitch?" the gunman bragged. He gave his brother a high five as he knelt over me, placing the gun against my throbbing skull.

"Just blow her fucking brains out Eddie, killing a Bat will definitely get us on Two-Face's good side," Eddie's brother goaded. I closed my eyes as I readied myself for my second death. The next thing I heard was two gunshots, killing the two thugs instantly. I heard a thump as a hooded man in a leather jacket landed onto the pavement. He holstered his guns, ran toward me and carefully picked me up. My injuries screamed as he eased me against his chest.

"Damn Batgirl, looks like you could use a hand," the hooded man teased. Before I lost consciousness, I noticed that the man was wearing a red helmet.


	3. The Black Sheep

Ch. 3 The Black Sheep

"_Stephanie, I'm so proud of you,_" he whispered. His hand grazed my check softly, as if I was as fragile as glass. He cherished me, relishing every second his eyes locked on mine. The blood rushing to my cheeks as my breath quickened.

"_Tim, I love…_" Tim's body retreating into the shadows interrupted my response; the darkness was engulfing his form. I ran towards the shadows, never able to catch the elusive specter. Before he was completely lost to me I let out a yell.

"Tim!" I screamed as I shot up, my whole body aching as I leaned back on my arms to clear my head. I felt the strain on the bandages on my right shoulder, a sharp sting resonating where I was shot. I then ran my hand over my face, noticing the many smaller bandages that covered the other wounds I accumulated.

It took me a moment to realize that I was no longer in costume. Whoever bandaged me up took the liberty of undressing me. I lifted the covers and realized that my host had the decency to leave on my sports bra and compression shorts. I shook my head to regain focus, and I quickly scanned the room to get my bearings. The sunlight shined through a lone window above a desk on the opposite side of the room. The first thing I noticed was my torn and blood stained costume sitting on the desk. The room I occupied was pretty empty, there only being a small chair that accompanied the desk, a small chest of drawers with a mirror attached, the bed I laid on and a nightstand on the side of the bed. I was about to get out of bed to get my costume back on before I heard the doorknob turn. Before the door opened, I quickly laid back down ignoring my body's protest. I closed my eyes as soon as the door opened. I heard footsteps enter the room and a soft thud as if something was placed down onto the nightstand.

"I know you aren't asleep, you can stop pretending," a husky voice invited. I opened my eyes and I saw a tall, barefoot man wearing a white shirt with jeans. He had ebony hair and looked like Dick and Tim. I allowed the resemblance to sink in until something in my mind clicked.

"You're Jason Todd?" I rasped. My throat was dry due to the fact that I've been asleep for God knows how long. I noticed a look of quick amusement on his face before he motioned to the nightstand. I saw a glass of water and some ibuprofens. I grabbed the glass of water and the pills, popping the pills into my mouth and greedily finishing the water. Only after I finished and wiped the excess drops of water off my lips did I notice that Jason was staring at me.

"Um, what are you doing?" I asked him. Jason Todd, he was the black sheep in our little family. He died, came back to life and became a criminal. _Well, I guess I can understand. The whole coming back to life part can be tough._

"Oh me? I'm just checking up on you," Jason replied nonchalantly. He smirked again as he went to grab the chair from under the desk and placed it next to the bed. Jason then spun the chair around so that he could rest his chin on its back. I felt as if his eyes were scanning my entire body.

"Did you really have to undress me?" I spat as I gathered the covers in order to conceal my body before a blush could dance onto my cheeks.

"I needed to clean and patch up your gunshot wound, so your costume had to go. You're lucky, the bullet went straight through and didn't do a lot of permanent damage," Jason indicated. "I tried to patch up the cuts on your face, too."

"Why did you save me?" I kinda sounded ungrateful, he probably saved my life.

"Well contrary to popular belief, I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress. Plus, I have a thing for blondes," Jason smirked. _Geez, who does he think he is?_

"But I'm Batgirl, I thought you hated us," I questioned.

"Ha, if that's what you want to believe," Jason answered passively.

"You aren't going to make this easy are you?" This was my first time meeting Jason, and from what everyone's told me about him, he's a bad guy. It wouldn't hurt to try to get inside his head.

"Not a chance, Stephanie," he grinned. I quickly perked up. How did he know my name? Intrigue and suspicion boiled within me.

"How do you know who I am?" I interrogated. I was in Batgirl mode now; Jason seemed more informed than he let up to be.

"C'mon Steph, you know who trained me. Bruce always said to be prepared," Jason recited. "Besides, with me being who I am, it's best that I keep tabs on you goodie goodies."

Well he had a point there, Bruce always told us to be prepared. I realized that it was pointless to try to get a serious answer from him.

"Anyways, how long was I out?" I shrugged, wincing at the pain. _Ugh, how did I end up in this situation? It was all Tim's fault, why did he have to be such a jerk?_

"About a day and a half. It's Tuesday afternoon now," Jason replied.

"Oh crap, I missed a couple of classes, and my mom's probably worried about me," I sighed as I smacked my forehead. I hope I didn't get too far behind. Being a vigilante and a college student is hard stuff. My mom was another story… wasn't sure how upset she was going to be.

"So you just got shot, and you're more worried about school?" Jason teased. A smile appeared on his lips that caused me to chuckle.

"Hey, we all don't get to work at Wayne Enterprises," I instinctively shrugged, causing another wince of pain. My shoulder was not making it easy for me.

"Haha, you know you shouldn't squirm so much. It's going to hurt a lot more." Everything Jason said was always so smug and cheeky. _What did I do to deserve him as a rescuer?_

"Whatever," I spat as I stuck my tongue out at him. I smelled horrible, like alcohol, sweat and a hint of blood. I scrunched my nose after realizing my obvious odor.

"Want to take a shower? You must be pretty uncomfortable right now," Jason offered. This actually took me by surprise. _Why was Jason being so nice to me?_ Nevertheless, a shower was definitely overdue.

"Alrighty then, I'll show you to the bathroom. You can borrow some of my clothes so you can change," Jason stated as he stood up and returned the chair he was sitting on to the side. He then opened a few of the drawers and retrieved a shirt and a pair of exercise shorts. Lastly, he grabbed two fresh white towels. He laid the items onto the nightstand as he held his hand out to help me get out of bed. A chill ran up my spine as I deposited the covers back onto the bed, my body unaccustomed to the cool air. Jason had the decency to look away while I was still in my undergarments.

Jason's display of kindness surprised me. He was supposed to be a criminal, an enemy, but all he's shown me was sincerity and compassion. He opened the door and across the hall was the bathroom. He handed me the change of clothes and the towels and left me to my shower. The bathroom was simple with nothing out of the ordinary. I turned on the shower and tested the water, waiting for the perfect temperature. I slowly undressed, knowing that any sudden movements might cause jolts of pain. I did a quick look over my body before entering the shower. There were a few bumps and bruises on my arms and legs but the bulk of the damage was concentrated on the side of my face where the bottle collided. Several scratches were scattered down my right cheek, and I felt a bruise on my right temple. I then tried to move my wounded shoulder; surely I would need to put my arm in a sling to help it heal. Luckily Jason used a waterproof dressing so that I could shower without removing the bandage.

I stepped into the shower and let the warm cascading water wash away the soreness in my muscles. I grabbed the shampoo and spread the lather through my golden locks. I used my fingers to comb out any knots that accumulated after being in bed for so long. As I brushed through my hair, my mind drifted, thinking back to how I got into this situation. I remembered the argument that Tim and I had. I remembered being hurt. I remembered how _he_ hurt me. Tears ran down my cheeks, merging with the streams of water that fell through the showerhead.

I stood for what seemed like minutes, allowing the waters to wash away the pain and tears. I then grabbed body wash and scrubbed every inch of my skin until I finally felt clean. Satisfied with my shower, I stepped onto the bathroom rug and began to dry off, careful not to stretch my shoulder too far. I then changed into Jason's clothes and wrapped my hair into the second towel. I noticed that Jason had also left a pair of sandals so I wouldn't need to walk around barefoot. They were a little too big for my feet, but everything Jason had seemed big to me.

I gathered my used undergarments and exited the bathroom, depositing them right next to my torn costume. _Babs is going to kill me_. I left the room and entered the living room area, where I found Jason sitting on the couch watching the news.

"Oh hey, everything okay?" Jason asked as he sat up, his eyes filled with sincere concern.

"Yeah, great actually. I really needed that shower," I chirped. As soon as I answered I heard my stomach growl loud enough for Jason to hear. A blush quickly crept onto my cheeks.

"Haha, you hungry?" Jason chuckled. "Gimmie a minute, I'll order pizza."

* * *

We ate our pizza in silence, making small talk here and there. After finishing our meal, I couldn't hold my curiosity any longer. I directed my question to Jason, "Why are you being so nice to me? Really."

Jason wiped some sauce off his lips as he directed his gaze directly to my eyes. Our eyes stayed in contact for a moment before he answered, "Like I said, you were a damsel in distress."

I rolled my eyes. "Why is it that you never give me a straight answer?"

Jason simply shrugged as he pulled out a gun, "Why, would you rather me try to shoot you?"

My eyes widened, ready to lunge at Jason to get the gun out of his hand. Seconds passed like hours as I was trying to devise a plan of attack. He must have been acting so nice in order for me to drop my guard. _Geez how many times am I going to die this week?_ He noticed my rigidity and laughed.

"Haha, calm down I'm just screwing with you," Jason cackled. I raised an eyebrow, not amused with his idea of a joke. He then holstered his weapon and stood up from the couch, cleaning up the remains of our meal.

"What the hell is wrong with you!? Do you just casually bring out your guns and show them to people?" I yelled, infuriated with Jason's spontaneous actions. He shook his head and continued to clean, a smile forming on his face.

I would have offered to help, but after the stunt he pulled I wasn't in a helping mood. Not that Jason seemed to mind. It seemed as if he was accustomed to being alone. I started to feel sorry for him, that was until I noticed how broad his shoulders were. My gaze then tumbled down to notice the definition of his back under his shirt. Jason had the body of a warrior; forged from the fires of anger and pain, and sculpted to perfection over years of persistent training. After a full minute of drooling over Jason's perfect body, I realized what I was doing and quickly shook my head to erase the images from my mind. _Why was I checking out Jason? JASON!_

"So, when can I leave this place anyways?" I coughed in an attempt to compose myself.

"Well if you're in a hurry I guess I can drop you off in a little bit," Jason grunted, seeming disappointed that I was leaving.

"Yeah that would be great. Do you have a bag I can borrow? I don't want to carry my Batsuit into my house," I inquired. My mom would flip if she realized my evening activities included me getting shot and beaten. I also did not want to stop by Firewall for security reasons.

"Sure, there should be a duffel bag under the desk in my room," Jason instructed as he was washing some dishes.

I returned to the room I woke up in, and turned on the light. I saw the duffel bag under the desk and grabbed it. I stuffed my torn and bloody Batsuit into the bag, along with my dirty laundry. After zipping the bag, I noticed the pictures on the desk. There were photos of Jason when he was younger, some of them were with Bruce and another one was with Jason, Bruce and Dick. Jason looked so happy, happy that he was a part of the legacy. That was a feeling I knew all too well. I heard a cough as I turned around to see that Jason noticed I was snooping.

"Watcha doin?" he asked while crossing his arms.

"Looking at your pictures. You miss them don't you?" I asked, sincerely concerned.

"It doesn't matter what I feel anymore," Jason answered grimly. "C'mon, I'll take you home."

The car ride was silent and awkward. Jason kept his eyes on the road, and I just twiddled my thumbs. I wondered if I had upset him or something. This whole encounter was just bizarre. After thirty minutes, we finally reached my house. Jason looked around as if he was surveying the area. Luckily it seemed like my mom got called to the hospital and wasn't home right at the moment.

"Nice place you got here," Jason stated in an attempt to ease the tension.

"Thanks. Oh, give me a minute so I can change and give you back these clothes." I replied as I gathered my things and exited his car. I had completely forgotten that I was wearing Jason's large clothing.

"Hold on to them, it'll give me a reason to see you again," Jason smirked as he drove away into the night, leaving me baffled.


	4. The Date

Ch. 4 The Date

"Yeah, yeah, Babs, I know. You still want me off duty for the next week. Tell Damian not to have too much fun without me," I chirped as I ended my call with Barbara.

It's been a few weeks since Jason rescued me. As soon as I got settled at home, I made a trip to Firewall to let Wendy and Barbara know that I was all right. Both of them were frantic, using their computer skills to try to track my suit, however the damage to my Batsuit disrupted the tracker. They were surprised to see me casually strolling into the room with my suit in a duffel bag, torn and bloody. I told them about the fight with the thugs, but I didn't mention Jason. I didn't want to raise suspicion just because he saved me. After the fight, I told them that one of the bar patrons saw what happened, rescued me and was able to get me to his apartment. I told Wendy and Barbara that my apparent savior was a retired doctor. I was treated and cared for but my identity wasn't compromised. I had saved his granddaughter a while back, and he wanted to return the favor. Though they didn't seem completely convinced, Babs and Wendy seemingly accepted my explanation and dropped the subject. However, Babs did chew me out for not being careful, wrecking my suit and for keeping radio silence throughout the night. Wendy didn't tell Babs about me running after Tim, which was cool of her.

I then took a trip to Wayne Manor where Dick and Damian were waiting. I offered them the same excuse I gave Babs and Wendy. Dick was simply happy that I was okay. Damian, however, didn't seem convinced. Bruce was on Batman Inc. duties at the time, so he couldn't hear about my adventure. I was lucky because I did not want to suffer from one of Bruce's "always be prepared" lectures. After Alfred took a look at me and redressed my wound, he recommended that I took some time off so that my shoulder could properly heal.

My mom took a little more convincing. When she finally returned home from her shift on Tuesday evening, she almost blew her top. At first she thought that I just left for classes early on Monday morning. But when I didn't come home that evening, she knew something was up. She even asked some of my friends to see if I was with them. I couldn't tell her that I was with a doctor because that would have raised way too many questions. So I told her that I was with a guy. _I wasn't lying._ That just opened a whole new issue. She was worried I was going to make a mistake and get pregnant again. I reassured her that there was nothing crazy going on. She was disappointed, but she trusted me. I got lucky that she didn't ground me.

Tim's been super protective lately, especially with me taking the time off. When I finally tracked him down and told him about what happened, he immediately told me not to worry about any of my duties until I was better. Maybe it's because he believes that it was his fault I ran off and had gotten hurt. He would drop by my house every evening before he went out for patrol, usually bringing a snack that we'd share. It almost seemed like we were back to what we once had. We would talk about our day and joke around. I'd rest my head against his chest, and he'd wrap his arm around me. I'd feel his heartbeat as my head would rise and fall with each breath he'd take. We wouldn't talk about his current conquests though. He knew that it was too soon for us to hash out the whole Lynx situation again.

It's been nice having some time off. I've been able to actually get my homework done and study a little for my classes. Plus instead of going to work out and training, I could finally sleep in. However, staying at home and taking it easy started to get boring. I haven't really been out other than to go to class and to do some other chores. The only real time I've had meaningful, social interaction has been when Tim visits.

I heard a knock on the door and thought it was Tim, since he usually came to visit around this time. When I opened the door I gasped as I saw Jason Todd standing on the other side.

"Hey," Jason smirked as he flashed his perfect teeth. He was wearing a black V-neck with jeans and a pair of boots. His forearm was leaning against the doorframe, giving me the perfect view of his defined arms and broad shoulders. His shirt rose up just a little so I could see some skin. His hair looked messy, like he just got out of a shower. I wanted to run my fingers through his hair, so I could tame his unruly locks. I stared for a minute as I allowed his figure to sink in.

"Um, hey, what are you doing here?" I tried not to sound flustered, but Jason was not helping the situation.

"Well, you do have some of my clothes, remember?" Jason retorted.

"Oh, yeah well, gimmie a second. I'll get them," I muttered as I let Jason in. I motioned for him to take a seat on the couch while I went up to my room to retrieve the clothes he lent me. My room's been a mess for the last week, so I had to scavenge through piles of clothes and some schoolwork before I could find what I was looking for.

Once I gathered Jason's clothes I went downstairs to find Jason with his chin resting on his knuckles, looking at a few pictures around the living room. He looked as if he was posing for a piece of art.

"Here they are," I mumbled as I handed Jason his belongings. He stood up and walked over to accept them.

"Thanks. So it's Sunday evening. Why are you staying home? Don't tell me that you're studying," Jason teased.

"No! I'm just taking it easy for a while. I'm still recovering from the traumatic experience I had at your place," I spat back. A smile splashed onto Jason's face.

"Oh really? You had such a bad time while you kept checking me out?" Jason smirked. _I can't believe he noticed!_

I almost blushed, "I was just making sure that you weren't trying to kill me you lunatic!"

"Ooooh low blow, blondie," Jason feigned a hurt expression as he put his hand to his forehead. "And here I was offering to take you out tonight."

"Well sorry to break it to you, but I actually have plans." Tim definitely would not be happy if he found out Jason was in my house, let alone asking me out on a date.

"Oh really? Where is Tim anyway? He's a little late by my watch," Jason asked while checking his bare wrist. I stared at him with the same confusion and intrigue when we first talked at his place.

"What are you stalking me or something?" I interrogated. _Jason should not know this much about my social life. What does he do all day?_

"I just wanted to make sure it was safe for me to come over and ask you out. I wouldn't wanna upset lil Red Robin, now would I?" Jason shrugged. "Aren't you wondering where he is right now?"

"Well I guess you're going to tell me," I said as I rolled my eyes. _Tim and I aren't dating. He didn't have to come over every night to hang with me. Although, it is strange that he wasn't here. He's never late, and he would have told me if there was a change of plans._

"I saw him in costume on a rooftop with some chick. She had a blue and red costume, and she had a cat mask in her hand. It was getting pretty heated when I saw them," Jason reported. _Lynx. Tim went to see Lynx over me._

The betrayal and jealousy stabbed at my core. I thought that the time we were spending together could have reminded Tim of what we had. I had hoped that he'd realize what I needed from him. It seemed that Tim would rather be with Lynx. _What was it about her? Does Tim like her because she seems dangerous? Well two can play at that game._

Jason simply stood silently as I contemplated the news he'd just given me. It took me a few minutes before I made my decision.

"Fine, I'll go out with you," I finally declared.

* * *

I told Jason to wait while I changed out of my house clothes. My mom had the night shift all this week, so I didn't have to worry about her running into Jason. Since it was a cool night in Gotham, I decided to wear simple skinny jeans that hugged my hips perfectly, a purple sweater and sneakers. I looked okay, nothing too special. It's not like I was interested in Jason. But if Tim had other plans this evening, I wasn't going to wait up for him. I stuffed some cash into my pocket and went downstairs to meet Jason. _What could happen?_

Jason led me to his car and we drove toward the city. He took me to the park and suggested that we take a walk along the trail. We talked about what I was studying in school and how much I hated some of my professors. I then asked what he did all day. He didn't give me a real answer, just something about people watching and sleeping. _Well, people watching explains how he knows so much about me… what a stalker._ We stopped by a hot dog stand and grabbed a bite to eat. Jason was kind enough to treat. While I was putting mustard onto my pretzel, I saw a familiar face running towards me.

"Steph!" a bubbly blonde screamed as she ran up to me.

"Kara, hey!" I yelled back. I laid down my pretzel and grabbed my best friend in a tight embrace. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the area, and I thought I'd stop by. But no one was home, so I went around to look for you!" Kara smiled. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress with a white cardigan and sandals. Her happiness was so infectious that you couldn't help but crack a smile while she's around.

"Oh, sorry! You should have told me you were coming through," I replied. I noticed that Jason finished paying for our snacks and was putting his condiments on his two hot dogs. It seemed that he was giving me space to talk to Kara.

"So, are you on a date? Who's the hottie?" Kara blurted a little too loudly. I heard Jason chuckle.

"Shhhh! That's Jason Todd. He kinda convinced me to go out with him tonight," I replied. Kara's smile slowly turned into a confused look as she realized whom Jason really was.

"Wait, isn't he the Red Hood? Tim told me about him. Bad dude," Kara whispered so that Jason couldn't hear her.

"Yeah he is, but he saved my life a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt," I confessed, tightening that she mentioned Tim. Kara raised her eyebrow and sighed.

"Well okay, just be careful. I'll talk to you later?" Kara questioned. I brought her into an embrace, not realizing how much I missed seeing her.

"Definitely, stop by soon and we can hang out. Oh, and Kara, please don't tell Tim about this?" I pleaded. I did not want Tim to find out about my little date with Jason.

"Sure. Bye, Steph!" Kara promised as she winked, running off into the crowd.

Jason noticed that Kara had left, and walked over nudging my shoulder. I smiled and we continued our walk, eating our food and talking about random stuff. I was actually enjoying the time I was spending with Jason. He listened to everything I said like it was the most interesting thing in the world. He always looked into my eyes when I spoke, giving me his undivided attention. He didn't treat me like an outsider or a nuisance. For the longest time the other members of Batman's organization would keep me at arms length, never believing in my abilities. Since I've become Batgirl, I've earned everyone's trust and respect. But there was always a suspicion that some of my colleagues may not completely believe in me.

"So, you ever play laser tag?" Jason asked, breaking my train of thought. He didn't even bother asking about Kara, which I guess was a good thing. _Maybe he didn't realize I was talking to Supergirl?_

"Ummm, no I haven't…" I admitted. My answer seemed to be all the permission Jason needed. He grabbed my hand and led me to the Gotham video arcade.

I felt pretty awkward since we were the oldest people there. Most of the players were kids that looked like they were still in elementary school. But Jason seemed to be pretty excited to play. We received the equipment that consisted of a heavy sensor vest that covered most of my chest and back. The laser gun was attached. I shook my shoulders so I could get used to the weight and feel of the vest. Luckily my gunshot wound didn't hurt as much anymore, only a little discomfort here and there. _Alfred is a miracle worker._ Jason seemed to feel comfortable with his equipment. There were a couple of adults that helped the kids put on the vests that were obviously too big for them.

A buzzer rang signaling the start of the game. I sprinted away from the group to gain some distance, hiding behind a pillar. I heard the ping of lasers connecting with vest sensors. The littler kids were screaming and laughing while they ran away from each other. I looked over so I could cover the corner of my hiding place, enabling me to view the entire arena. Then I saw it. Jason was running from the kids, pretending to be captured and feigning injury. His acting made the kids laugh some more. I smiled, realizing how cute it was that Jason was playing with the kids. I didn't even realize that Jason was looking at me too. I was so distracted with the eye contact that I hadn't noticed that Jason's laser gun was pointed at my chest. I heard a _ping,_ and I knew it was a declaration of war! I ran from my hiding place and joined the fray.

* * *

After an hour of playing laser tag, I was exhausted. I had to admit that Jason's idea was really fun. We returned our gear, and Jason suggested that we go out for dinner. I had no objections due to the fact that laser tag was the most strenuous form of exercise I had all week. We walked over to a local pizza shop not too far from the arcade. We decided to sit and eat outside since it was rare to get a really good look at the stars.

"So, did you know that all those kids were gunna be there?" I asked as I bit into my slice of pizza.

"Yeah, those kids are from a local orphanage. The adults with them are employees that work at the orphanage. I found out that they get a certain amount of free time during the weekend to go out and explore the city. So sometimes I go and play laser tag with them," Jason admitted.

Jason's answer took me by surprise. I never expected him to have a soft spot for kids until today. But the fact that he takes the time to go and play with the kids was one of the cutest things I've heard. I smiled and continued to eat my pizza. During our meal, I could have sworn that I saw a flash of green and red disappear into the shadows of a nearby rooftop, but I shrugged it off. _Why would he be keeping tabs on me?_ We finished and I brought up the fact that I haven't paid for anything all night.

"So you do know that I'm capable of paying for myself, right?" I challenged.

"But what kind of gentleman would I be if I let you do that?" Jason retorted.

"Oh, so you think you're a gentleman?" I teased. Jason shoved me aside and started to run. I chased him down the block through a crowd of people who gave us weird looks. I saw that Jason turned a corner into an alley, and I thought that I had him trapped. But when I made the turn I couldn't find him. I looked around the dark alleyway, but I couldn't see anything but a dumpster. _What the…?_

"RAHH!" Jason yelled as he jumped out from the shadows. His sudden movement and yelling caused me to nearly have a heart attack. I smacked his shoulder as I clutched my chest, trying to stabilize myself. _Holy crap!_

"What the hell, Jason! You almost scared me to death!" I screamed.

"Haha, stop being such a baby," Jason smirked. I was about to hit him again when I noticed his icy blue eyes, shining in the moonlight. I was mesmerized, seeing the pain behind those beautiful blue orbs. A moment passed and Jason returned my gaze as he raised his hand, his knuckles grazing my cheek. I let my face meet his hand, conforming to his touch. _What am I doing?_

Jason started to inch closer. I didn't move. Thousands of thoughts were running through my mind, but I was paralyzed. I didn't know what to do. I felt a shiver run down my spine as his hand moved from my cheek to grasp the back of my neck, lightly massaging the tension away. _Aw, what the hell? _I was about to meet Jason's lips when I felt my phone vibrate. _Dammit._ I stepped back and took my phone out to read the text message I just received.

_Hey where are you? – Tim_

I read the message, and I was suddenly brought back to reality. Tim must have been looking for me, and I wouldn't want to cause suspicion by staying out too late while I'm supposed to be taking it easy. _Sometimes Tim can be too overprotective._ Jason noticed my change in attitude and withdrew his hand. I muttered that I should go home, and Jason made no objections.

The car ride was surprisingly lighthearted and enjoyable. Jason made fun of how slow I was because I got tagged by so many of the kids in the arcade. I countered with the fact that he almost tripped on a couple of the kids when he was chasing me. We kept recalling the evening's events until he reached my house. Jason got out first and opened my door and walked me to my doorstep. I fiddled with my keys as I attempted to unlock my door. I noticed Jason's shadow move closer to me as I felt his breath on the back of my neck causing goose bumps to ripple across my skin. I turned toward Jason. He kept his eyes on me and bit his lip, placing a hand on the doorframe as he leaned towards me. I instinctively retreated, stopping when my back hit my door. His free hand then cupped my cheek as our eyes locked. Jason looked at me with such need, the loneliness present behind his eyes. His hand then moved back to its spot at the base of my neck, cupping the back of my head and getting a handful of my hair. My heartbeat started to flutter as my breath quickened. Jason took my reaction as an invitation, pulling me into a kiss. After the initial shock, I began to kiss back. Jason's other hand then traveled down my back, resting on my right hip, pulling me closer towards him. I moved my hands and rested them on Jason's chest, feeling the definition beneath his V-neck. Seconds felt like hours. I didn't know how long we were standing outside, locked in a simple but powerful kiss. To my disappointment, Jason pulled away, bringing both hands to my face.

"G'night," Jason whispered as he gave my lips a quick peck before he turned and made his way to his car. I walked through my door as Jason drove away, leaning against it. I brought my fingers to touch my lips. _That was amazing._

I kicked off my shoes and skipped upstairs to my room. I navigated through the minefield and opened a window. _I need some air. _I walked back to lie down on my bed when I heard a thud. I turned around to see an unexpected guest.

"Brown," Damian greeted. He was in his Robin costume and did not look particularly happy.

"Hey Damian, what's up?" I answered. We recently got on better terms, but Damian was still on edge whenever he spoke to me.

"I saw you with Todd this evening. Now I don't know why you two were together but just know that I'll be watching you," he spat. Damian then turned to leave. He looked at me once again before jumping out of my window.

_Crap._


	5. Deeper

Ch. 5 Deeper

_I am so screwed. _The sun's rays danced through my window as the birds chirped their morning songs. Yesterday I went out on a date with Jason Todd. The date itself was amazing. It was the most fun I've had in the past couple of weeks. Jason seemed like such a different person last night. The stories everyone's told me made me think of him as a criminal and a murderer. But last night I saw a man fueled by passion and loneliness. Maybe there was another side to Jason that no one else has seen since his return. _And that kiss definitely caught me by surprise._

But Jason wasn't the reason I'm freaking out. The problem was that Damian knew about the date! _That little gremlin. _What was he going to do about it? He could easily tell Dick, Babs and Tim about it, but that isn't his style. He has a plan and it's not going to be pretty.

I heard a knock on the door, forcing me to get out of bed. I quickly ran downstairs, not wanting to wake my mom. She's been super tired since she's taken on the night shift at the hospital, and I'd be a crummy daughter if I woke her up. I reached the door and opened it, wondering who would be visiting so early. Tim was standing on the other side of the doorway, holding a rose in his hand.

"Morning Steph," Tim smiled.

"Good morning to you too sunshine. What's the occasion?" I asked, accepting the rose and smelling it.

"Well, since you didn't text me back last night, I thought that you were mad about me bailing on you. So I decided to make it up to you, do you have any plans today?" Tim asked hopefully.

_Wow, two date proposals in two consecutive days from two guys. This must be a new record. _

"You're in luck boy wonder. I don't feel like going to my English class this morning. C'mon in and have a seat… I have to go find something cute to wear," I flirted. Tim blushed as he walked in and took a seat on the couch. I placed the rose in a vase, smiling at the flower one more time. I then skipped up to my room and opened my closet to look for potential outfits.

I finally settled on a purple sundress that passed my knees. It was a sunny day, and it was perfect weather. I quickly brushed the knots out of my hair and brushed my teeth. I slipped on a pair of black flats and went down the stairs to join Tim. He had dozed off on the couch, probably exhausted from taking on my patrol route. I sat down on the arm of the chair and brushed some of his hair away from his face, resting my hand on his cheek. _He looks so serene._ Tim stirred from my touch and opened his eyes.

"Whoa, you look good," Tim groaned as he rubbed his eyes.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, boy wonder. Let's go." I grabbed a purse as Tim led me to the Redbird. He opened my door to let me in before getting into the driver's seat.

He brought me to the Manor, where Alfred was waiting with a smile on his face. He ushered us into the dining room where there was a small breakfast buffet waiting for us. The buffet consisted of an assortment of fruits, pastries, sausages and scrambled eggs. We grabbed our plates and made our way to the alluring aroma of Alfred's cooking. Once we both filled our plates, Tim pulled out my chair and took his seat across from me. We began to eat quietly before I heard someone enter the dining room.

"Brown," Damian greeted. He looked more tense than usual.

"Good morning Damian," I chirped. _I have to keep on his good side. _

"tt. So looks like you've gotten fat during your time off. You must be eating out a lot," Damian spat.

"Damian, get out of here!" Tim yelled at his adopted brother. Damian always got on his nerves.

"This is my father's house, who are you to order me around, Drake?" Damian condescended, locking eyes with Tim, initiating a staring contest to prove his dominance. However, Damian's eye contact was broken by a familiar holler.

"Damian, can't you see Steph and Tim are having breakfast? Don't be so rude," Dick scolded from atop the steps. Damian grumbled as he left. Dick then greeted us good morning before retreating to his room. Tim and I both chuckled.

Our breakfast was delicious. Alfred had definitely outdone himself. While finishing a glass of orange juice, I noticed a bit of jelly that was on Tim's chin. I reached across to wipe the jelly off with my thumb and brought it to my mouth. Tim instantly blushed, and I laughed in response. I loved that I still could make him feel like that.

"So what did you end up doing yesterday?" Tim asked. _Oh, just went on a date with a criminal. Don't worry I had fun, and he was a complete gentleman. He even kissed me, and I think I liked it. _

"Oh, nothing really. I just stayed in last night and watched some TV." I could have sworn I heard Damian snicker in response to my lie.

"Well, I'm glad I didn't ruin your evening," Tim smirked.

"What were _you_ doing last night?" I countered, interested in seeing what story Tim would come up with to cover his meet with Lynx.

"Oh, you know I was patrolling all night. It wasn't anything major though. I stopped some bank robberies and roughed up Penguin at the Ice Berge Lounge," Tim coughed. He obviously wasn't ready for my retort and had to think up a story off the top of his head. At least the lie was creative enough, so I let him get away with it.

After finishing up the morsels that remained on our plates, Alfred came over to clean the table. We stood up and exited the dining room, thanking Alfred for the wonderful meal. Tim then led me to the living room. As we sat down on the couch, I kicked off my flats and rested my feet across Tim's lap. He then grabbed the remote and started to channel surf. He finally settled on the news, which was reporting on some sort of international disturbance the Justice League helped settle. It seemed like Tim wasn't paying attention to the TV though. He grabbed my calves and started to massage the soles of my feet. I giggled at his touch, but then as his fingers found a rhythm, I allowed myself to be lulled by their comfort. I looked at the ceiling, focusing on nothing in particular, simply enjoying the silent interactions between Tim and me. My lack of focus quickly turned into heavy-eyed drowsiness. The last thing I noticed before I fell asleep was a smile flash on Tim's face.

* * *

When I woke up Tim was asleep, still trapped under me. The sun was already setting, and it was almost time for Tim to get ready for patrol. I carefully removed my legs off of Tim and slipped my flats back on. I turned off the TV and walked towards the Batcave. A chill ran down my spine as I passed through the grandfather clock and descended the stairs into the cave. I turned the corner to face the giant computer. Damian was furiously typing away, consumed by his work.

"What are you doing here, Brown? I didn't know my father allowed streetwalkers in the cave," Damian grunted.

"Oh, I just wanted to hang." I replied, ignoring his obvious insult. _Wow, that was pretty hard to say._

"If this is about what happened the other night, you don't have to worry. I won't tell Drake about your indiscretions. I plan on making you suffer all by myself. Now if that was all, please leave, I have work to do before patrol." Damian hawked.

_He can be such a jerk, but at least he won't tell anyone. _I turned to leave the cave and almost ran into Tim.

"Oh, hey! I thought you left," Tim said.

"I was just visiting the cave. It's been a while, you know." I haven't gone out to patrol for more than a week, and it was starting to take its toll on me.

"Don't be in such a rush to get back out there; you were hurt pretty bad. You're lucky that doctor found you and helped out. I couldn't stand the thought of losing you, Steph." Tim turned his head away, but his expression showed obvious concern.

"Don't worry boy wonder. I'm not going anywhere," I reassured, bringing him into an embrace. "Now get outta here… you have a long night ahead of you."

Tim flashed me a smile as he walked past me to change into his costume. I took a quick look around the cave and my eyes fixed on Jason's Robin costume. He was a part of this. Bruce's legacy. Seeing his Robin costume reminded me of my own time as the girl wonder. It also reminded me about what he said the day I left his apartment. _Why was he so sad? Why doesn't he come back?_ Those questions resonated in my mind until the chill of the cave became too much for me to handle.

As I exited, Alfred was waiting for me. He offered me a coat and asked if I needed a ride home. I nodded and thanked Alfred as he placed the coat around my shoulders. The ride home was quiet; Alfred kept to himself and left me to my thoughts.

_Tim's been so sweet lately, but is he just doing it out of guilt? But it wasn't his fault that I got shot. Today was the most comfortable we've been together since I confronted him. I missed it, but did he? Or was this just Tim being Tim? _

My phone vibrated through my purse, breaking my train of thought. I looked to see that Tim texted me.

_Since we ended up sleeping all day, want to go out with me again tomorrow? _

I instantly responded that I would love to. _This is good. Tim wants to spend more time with me._ _Maybe he isn't seeing Lynx anymore. _Before I could get too accustomed to the thought of my second date with Tim, I realized that I was home.

The car stopped, and Alfred opened my door. "We have arrived, Miss Stephanie," Alfred smiled.

"Thank you Alfred," I replied and kissed him on the cheek, shrugging off the coat and running into the house.

"Steph, is that you?" Mom called from the kitchen.

"Hi, mom! Who's the bouquet for?" There was a beautiful bouquet that joined the lone rose Tim gave me earlier.

"It's for you sweetheart, and there was a card that came with it," Mom said, handing me an envelope, raising an eyebrow as I took out the card.

_Steph, call me._

_-J_

I turned the card over and saw a phone number. All of my earlier concerns and anticipation regarding Tim vanished as my body filled with excitement. I ran upstairs to my room to get some privacy. I jumped on my bed and laid on my stomach, dialing Jason's number. As I waited for the call to go through, I absentmindedly hummed in tune with the dial tone. _I haven't been this excited to talk on the phone for a while._

"Hey, Steph." He sounded sleepy, which caused me to release the breath that I didn't know I was holding.

"Hey, thanks for the flowers." I couldn't help but play with the stray strands of hair that fell across my face.

"I'm glad you liked them. So I was wondering what you were doing tomorrow night," Jason purred.

"Well, I'm not sure, Romeo. I am a busy woman, I think I'm going to have to check my schedule," I teased. In reality, I really did want to see Jason again. There was something about him that made my heart flutter and my breath quicken.

"You better clear your calendar. I'm taking you out!" I could almost hear his smirk. I couldn't help but smile.

"Well if you put it like that, how can a girl resist?" I answer. Why deny it? I wanted to see him, and he wanted to see me.

"Great, pick you up at seven," Jason affirmed.

"Alrighty, Romeo, sounds like a plan," I answered. We then said our goodnights and hung up, but something kept me smiling even after the call ended. However, my smile quickly disappears as soon as I looked at the screen again.

_Great, I'll pick you up at seven. - Tim_


	6. Problem

Ch. 6 Problem

"So the derivative of sine is cosine and the derivative of cosine is negative sine," my professor droned. _It's a beautiful and sunny Tuesday afternoon and I'm stuck in my calculus class. Why do I even need calculus!? _My eyes wandered the board, not really understanding the plethora of symbols and letters that accompanied the numbers. However, my mind wasn't completely focused on the calculus lecture… I had another problem. I have two dates this evening, at the same time, with two guys who don't really get along.

I tapped my pen on my notebook, counting down the minutes before class was over and I would be free for the day. I needed all the time I could get in order to figure out what I was going to do. But, my professor just kept going on and on about how awesome derivatives are. Luckily, one of my fellow classmates decided he had enough and pointed out that the clock in the room was ten minutes late. Disappointed, the professor finally let us free. I couldn't have run out of the lecture hall fast enough. I decided to pass by Babs' office, since I haven't had a real chance to talk with her. Besides, maybe she could give me some insight into my situation.

"Hey Babs," I cooed as I knocked on her office door. She greeted me with a smile, motioning me to sit down while she finished a call. I looked around and noticed some of the little things in her office. The small bowl of mints on her desk, the pile of computer books filled with notes and highlights, a corkboard and calendar filled with university events. Like her apartment, Babs kept everything in her office orderly.

"Okay, see you later tonight." Babs hangs up with a smile painted across her face. "Hey Steph, what's up?"

"Ehh, I'm okay. So who was that on the phone?" I inquired. It's been a while since I've seen Babs look this happy, and she's glowing right now.

"It was no one," Babs defended. _Only one person ever made her smile that smile. _

"Oh my God, was that Dick on the phone?!" Dick was a great guy, but things were always on the rocks when it came to his relationship with Babs. She blushed and quickly tried to change the topic.

"SO, what up? Calc still giving you problems?"

"Yeah, but that's not the only problem I have. Say I have this friend who has two dates tonight with two boys who are complete opposites. She has history with one of them, but she finds the other one kinda mysterious. What does she do?"

Babs simply rolled her eyes. "Well, who does your friend like better?"

_If I knew the answer to that question I wouldn't be asking for your help Babs._

* * *

After a half an hour of asking Babs for advice regarding my "friend", I left her office and decided it was time to head home. Today was a perfect day to walk, not a cloud in the sky. The sun felt deliciously warm on my skin. I decided to take a longer route home so I could do some window-shopping and to figure out what the heck I was going to do. _Who do I like better? _Babs' question reverberated across my mind. Tim and I would always have a connection, a love that would always be present in our lives. However, Jason was a wild card. I could never tell what he was thinking and what his intentions were. It was that unpredictability that made him attractive. But where would a relationship with him go? What would happen if everyone found out? Would I be forced to quit being Batgirl? Could I make the others understand that Jason wasn't a bad guy? It was those questions that would accompany anything related to Jason.

I ended up stopping in front of a glass shop that sold animal shaped ornaments. There was an ornament that caught my eye, a glass robin that was separate from the other ornaments. The glass caught the light perfectly, separating it into several smaller beams. I once heard someone compare glass to love, and I had to agree. Normally I hated glass because it could break at any moment. But there was something about this robin, something different that made me want to believe that glass wasn't so bad.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" a familiar voice breathed.

"Y'know what Jason? I'm starting to think that this whole knowing where I am thing is becoming too regular," I smirked. I didn't even need to turn around to know that Jason was returning my grin. I saw his reflection through the glass. _Geez, what kind of toothpaste does he use? His teeth are sparkling!_

"Well, what if I wanted to see you before our date tonight?" _Oh yeah, our date._ _That's what I've been thinking about all day, too. _Jason came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close to him. He nuzzled his face into my neck, sending a tremor down my spine. We just stood there for a moment, disregarded by the world. It all felt so natural, his arms around me and his head fitting perfectly next to mine. I remember the last time I felt this sort of closeness. It was with Tim. I couldn't hurt him, especially after he's been so kind to me. I made my decision, but the hard part was next.

"Um, Jason. We need to talk." My voice was barely a whisper, but I could feel Jason's body stiffening at my words. I unclasped his hands and took a step forward to look him in the eye. I could tell that he wouldn't be pleased with what I was about to say. "I can't go out with you tonight."

"Why?" His answer was so soft that I had to strain my ears to hear him.

"I have another date tonight. It's with Tim, and I think I should go." I didn't want to look him in the eye. I knew that Jason had feelings for me, but I couldn't betray Tim like that, especially after I made a big deal about Lynx.

"If that's what you want," Jason said sternly. He turned around and walked away. I didn't have the heart to go after him.

The rest of my journey home was silent. There were no birds chirping and the sun suddenly felt less warm. I always felt this way after I've hurt someone. I wish I knew what Jason was thinking. I hope that he didn't hate me for choosing Tim over him. However, I couldn't let my mind obsess over Jason too long.

Tim was taking me out for dinner into the city. He said it wasn't going to be too fancy and to dress comfortably. When I got home, Mom was still asleep from last night's shift, so I tiptoed upstairs so I could get dressed. After a half hour of debating, I decided on a beige sweater, black leggings and a pair of boots. Nothing too fancy, but I thought I looked cute. I still had some time before Tim was supposed to pick me up, so I decided to curl my hair. I quickly turned my normally straight hair into a golden waterfall of curls that I was proud of. The last touch was a bit of perfume. My phone alarm went off, indicating that it was now seven.

_Knock Knock Knock. _Like clockwork, Tim was at my door. I grabbed my purse and skipped every second step to get to the door. However, I was not expecting what was on the other side. Tim was wearing a red dress shirt with the top two buttons undone and black slacks. His normally messy hair was combed and looked quite presentable. He looked great, and suddenly I felt a little underdressed.

"Geez boy wonder, I thought you said to be comfortable," I whistled. Tim blushed and flashed a smile.

"Well after wearing a suit all day, this is pretty comfortable." I was about to leave the house when I heard my mom wake up and call me from her room.

"Honey, are you going out with J?" Tim raised an eyebrow. _Great Mom, thanks for blowing my secret._

"No Mom, I'm going out with Tim! Okayloveyouseeyoulaterbye!" I yelled as I joined Tim on the other side of the door.

"Who's J?" Tim inquired.

"Oh just some guy from my calc class, we sometimes study together," I lied. I was not going to let my mom be the reason I got caught.

"You know, I could tutor you if you really need help," Tim flirted. He grabbed my hand and interlaced his fingers with mine. The heat emanating from his hand warmed mine as we walked towards the car.

"I'll let you know if I'll need your services then," I smiled. Tim was cutest when he was playful. He's gone though so much in his life, and I always hated the fact that some days he would let his sorrow control him. I knew that he never wanted to be like Bruce, but there were some days where I couldn't tell the difference. I'm glad that tonight was a happy night.

When we got into the car, Tim rolled down the windows to let the cool evening breeze in. Luckily, Tim was driving somewhat slowly so the wind wouldn't ruin the hard work I put into curling my hair. We entered the city and ended up stopping at an Italian restaurant. Tim must have made a reservation because we were seated as soon as he gave his name. The entire restaurant gave us their undivided attention. There were whispers amongst the other patrons regarding my identity and whether or not I was worthy to be seen with Tim _Wayne_. We were led to a separate booth that gave us a decent amount of privacy from the rest of the world. A waiter quickly offered us water and handed us the menus.

"You look beautiful tonight," Tim confessed. I looked up from the menu to see that he was blushing. I smiled in response, extending my hand to meet his on the table giving his hand a soft squeeze.

The waiter took our orders and we filled the time with small talk about what we did during the day. Apparently Wayne Enterprises was doing great. However, Tim quickly changed the subject back to me, and I droned on and on about how much I hated calculus and didn't see the point of it. Tim would laugh often, but his eyes were always locked onto mine. It was this intimacy that I missed with him.

The eye contact was broken as our orders arrived and the table was quickly filled with pastas and bread. I quickly grabbed a roll and began dunking it into Tim's Alfredo sauce. He raised his eyebrow again, but didn't object. Later, I ended up feeding him some of my chicken Parmesan. We ate so much that when the waiter offered us the dessert menus we had to refuse.

Tim wiped his lips and stared into his lap. He only ever did that when he had something important to tell me. Once he built up his courage he took my hand in his again and spoke.

"Steph, I'm sorry that I've been such an idiot recently. I didn't realize how much I actually hurt you. I just want you to know that I've stopped seeing Lynx and that I'm ready to wait for you. No matter how long it takes. I love you."

I was baffled. I wasn't expecting Tim to confess his feelings to me. I didn't even have enough time to process what had just happened when I heard some commotion from the other room.

_Crash! _There was the sound of glass breaking and chairs being thrown all over the place. We exited the booth to see that there was a pillar of ice protruding from the street. Tim took my hand and we ran outside to see what was going on. Once we exited the restaurant I noticed that along with the giant ice pillars that covered several buildings there was an inferno engulfing the other side of the city.

"Freeze and Firefly? Why would they be working together?" Tim quickly brought us to the Redbird. He called Dick and Barbara to let them know of the situation. Once we got in, a compartment opened that held his Red Robin uniform. The autopilot kicked in, taking us to an abandoned alleyway where no one would notice. Tim began stripping off his clothes so he could change. I looked away, but not without sneaking a peek. Tim always had muscles, but now it looked like he should be modeling for the covers of magazines. I saw the contour of his biceps and his rippling abs. It was difficult trying not to stare. Once he placed his cowl over his head, he turned to me and told me to stay put. He then exited the car and grappled to the building.

_Like hell I'm going to stay put._ As soon as I knew that Tim was a far enough distance away from the car, I opened the door and made my way to the action. It was chaos; several civilians were running away from the falling debris caused by the fires. I looked around to see if there was any way for me to help without my suit. That was when I saw it. An icicle broke off and started to descend onto a little boy. I sprinted so I could push the boy out of the way; however, I ended up tripping and landed right where the icicle was about to connect.

_BOOM! _I saw an explosion as miniature pieces of ice rained down on me. I looked up to see Red Hood on top of a building waving at me with a bazooka over his shoulder. I knew for certain that Jason was smirking at me. I ran towards the building he was on, determined to find out why he was in the area during the attack. I took the elevator to the top of the apartment building and found the stairway that led to the roof. When I opened the door, I saw Jason causally leaning on the bricks as if he was waiting for me.

"Looks like I'm getting my date with you after all," Jason smirked. I was just guessing that he smirked though. I couldn't discern anything as long as Jason was behind his helmet, the smooth crimson mask that made up his Red Hood persona.

"Why are you here Jason?" I was in no mood for games. It was a little too convenient for Jason to be in the same area as the restaurant where Tim and I had our date. Especially since there was an attack right after.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold it right there blondie. I'm here because the orphanage is right down the street," Jason raised his hands up in defense. _That's right, the orphanage is located at this end of the city. _

My ferocity towards Jason died down. I couldn't stay mad at the fact that he had something he wanted to protect. If anything, it made him seem more like us. I quickly closed the gap between us so I could stare into his helmet. I couldn't see him, but he could see me. I heard a _hiss_ as Jason's hands went up to his face. He removed his helmet to meet my gaze with his icy blue orbs. I saw the flames behind him, but I couldn't stop staring into his eyes. He looked at me with such care and passion. At that moment I could have sworn the fires that engulfed the city all focused their intensity into those cascading blue eyes. He took a step forward to meet me, grasping my shoulders as if I was going to fly away with the wind. We stood in silence as the city was purged into chaos. I didn't even notice him pulling me closer to his body until there was virtually no space between us. His hands made their way down from my shoulders to my hips, solidifying his hold on me. Jason's lips inched closer and closer until the distance between us could be secured if one of us took in too deep a breath. I closed my eyes, ready for what was about to happen until I heard the thump of someone landing on the roof, joining us.

"Nice place for a date Brown," Damian quipped. His sword was drawn and pointed towards Jason. He released me from our embrace and walked towards Damian, drawing one of his guns in the process. The they were stuck in a deadlock, staring each other down to see who would make the first move. Thing was, I didn't want either of them to get hurt.

"Knock it off you guys." I stepped into the line of fire in an attempt to quell the conflict. My plea seemed to have an effect as Jason holstered his weapon and put his helmet back on. He grabbed the bazooka that was on the ground and leapt off of the ledge back into the inferno swept city. Damian lowered his sword when he was sure Jason was out of sight.

"You keep interesting company, Brown," Damian walked over to overlook the pandemonium unleashed. I walked up to join him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"How'd you find me?"

"I told you that I'd be watching you. When I saw you with Todd I thought you might be in trouble," Damian admitted as he turned his head away.

"Were you worried about me, Damian?" I teased. I quickly shut up as he turned to me with a serious look on his face.

"Yes I was. Aside from Grayson, you're my only other friend Stephanie," Damian confessed. "I wouldn't want you to be in harm's way."

Damian's momentary sincerity completely blindsided me. I was still shocked that he used my first name. Moved by his honesty, I brought him into an embrace. To my surprise, he reciprocated the gesture. _Maybe Damian isn't that bad._


	7. The Gala

Ch. 7 The Gala

"So, you and Tim have been inseparable for the past week. It looks like things are getting serious," Kara chirped.

"Yeah, it's been great. We're taking things slow this time, kinda getting used to each other again," I replied as I stared through my binoculars. Tonight was my first night back on patrol and I just got a lead on the goons who have been supplying weapons to the local gangs. This city doesn't need any more idiots with guns. Plus, Kara wanted to hang out, so she decided to come along. We were following our perps as they were about meet with their supplier.

At that moment, I noticed that the arms dealers entered their van and pulled out of the warehouse they set up as their base. I launched my grappling hook to propel myself onto the adjacent rooftop. _God it feels good to have the wind in my hair._ _I've been taking it easy for too long, I can't believe I let Alfred and Tim talk me into my vacation._

After a few blocks, the van led us to an abandoned factory that used to manufacture car parts. It was closed down due to an accident that killed three employees. Now, it's a perfect place for illegal arms deals and other criminal activity. I landed on the factory's rooftop to get a better view of the scene. There were two vans and about a dozen men total. They must be new in town because they thought they'd be safe dealing outside. I signaled to Kara that I was going to jump in.

When I landed on the hood of the van I could have sworn some of the goons screamed. It took them a minute but they regained their composure and reached for their guns. I instantly threw three batarangs to knock the weapons out of their hands.

"C'mon boys, can't you be a little more gentlemanly? I am a lady y'know," I quipped.

"Grab the bitch!" the boss yelled. _Well that did it._

I jumped off the van and quickly took my fighting stance as the gang members ran towards me. This one stringy guy threw the first punch; he probably had something to prove. I blocked it easily and threw the goon to the side. I extended my boomstick and goaded my opponents to attack me. Unfortunately for them they took the bait. I danced my way through the throng of men, dodging and counterattacking, until only the leader was left. I quickly grabbed him by the collar, bringing him up to his feet. That's when I noticed Kara floating behind me.

"You could have helped you know," I teased.

"I would have, but you looked like you had it covered." Kara landed, and walked towards me.

I turned my attention back to the matter at hand. "Why are you in Gotham?"

"I ain't telling you nothing," the goon spat. I nodded over to Kara and she swept him up and quickly flew up into the air.

"Man you're heavy, I might need to let you go." I heard Kara threaten over our comm link.

"Oh God, I'll talk! I'll TALK!" the goon pleaded. _Too easy._

Kara slowly brought him down and dropped him onto the pavement. I loomed over the fear-stricken man and gave him a glare. As he was about to speak, his mouth began to foam. I ran to see if he was okay, but I was too late, he was dead. What made matters worse was that there was a dart that protruded from the back of his neck. Someone didn't want him to talk. I grabbed the dart to examine it. I heard police sirens approaching so I radioed Proxy telling her that Kara and I would be returning to Firewall for the night.

* * *

"So this is what caused the guy to start foaming and die?" Wendy questioned as she took the dart from me.

"Yup, I didn't even see who shot it," I answered. Wendy put the dart into the computer analyzer to see if it could read anything that could help us pinpoint who wanted that man dead.

"I didn't even hear anyone nearby," Kara added. The situation was getting more and more peculiar. It seems like those gangsters had friends in high places. Friends who didn't want them to spill their secrets.

_Ding._ The computer analysis finished and showed the results. The dart had been coated with a neurotoxin that kills in a matter of seconds. To make matters worse, the computer indicated that the poison used in the dart was most likely from a member of the League of Assassins

_Crap, this might get ugly._

I decided to take the dart over to the Batcave, Bruce would most likely have more knowledge about the League than I did. Normally I would have asked Babs about the dart, unfortunately she had business with the Birds tonight. I told Kara to wait with Wendy while I left for my visit.

The cave was quiet when I arrived. I walked towards the computer when the chair began to turn.

"Why are you here, Brown?" Damian instigated. _Ugh looks like he's back to his old self._

"I was looking for Bruce, I might need help in my investigation," I answered. Damian smirked and stood up.

"I can handle whatever is troubling you." I simply shrugged and handed the dart over to Damian, and explained to him the situation. During my explanation, the big man himself appeared out of nowhere.

"You won't be handling anything, Damian," Bruce grumbled. Damian was less than pleased.

"But Father! Leviathan is probably behind this, we need to strike." This was a very touchy subject for Damian. He was stuck in the middle of this over-exaggerated lover's spat.

"Just be patient. We don't know if Leviathan is truly behind this." Bruce was much sterner with Damian than he seemed with Dick and Tim. Was it because of his upbringing? Or his mother?

Bruce then turned to me and spoke, "Thank you, Batgirl. I'll take this investigation off your hands."

"No problem boss, it's all yours," I relinquished. The arms dealers must have been the smaller cogs in the larger machine. I was about to turn around to return to Firewall when I felt Bruce's hand on my shoulder.

"I'm glad that you're okay, Stephanie." Bruce has been acting differently since he returned from the dead. He isn't so distant. I smiled in response and left the cave to head back to Firewall.

When I arrived, Kara was asleep and Wendy was in the back arranging the cartridges for my batarangs. I quickly changed out of my Batsuit and woke Kara up so she could change too. Lastly, I yelled at Wendy to let her know that I was going home. Since it was late, Kara decided to stay the night so we could catch up on other things not cape related. When we got home, Mom was at work. She did, however, leave a note on the fridge.

_Steph, there's leftovers in the fridge, and you have a letter. –Mom_

The letter was left on the kitchen table. The envelope looked elegant and had embossed lettering. _Fancy._ I opened the envelope and saw an invitation.

_Miss Stephanie Brown_

_It is my pleasure to request your attendance at the annual Wayne Foundation Charity Gala._

_This Saturday at 8 pm at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel._

_A car will be sent to pick you up at 7 pm._

_Not giving me much choice there huh? _I was surprised to say the least. I didn't even know that The Wayne Foundation had an annual gala! I saw that the envelope also had another note attached.

_I can't wait to see your dress. – Tim_

I sighed, "Well looks like I'm going to need to go dress shopping."

"Yay! I can't wait!" Kara squealed.

* * *

"You look gorgeous Steph!" Kara's voiced echoed throughout the entire store.

"Thanks!" I did a twirl to show her again. I fell in love with a purple strapless evening gown. It came down to my feet and hugged my body perfectly. There was a slit on the left side that showed some leg and the beaded chiffon fabric made it look like silver rain drops made their way down the dress.

"tt. You look acceptable, Brown," Damian huffed.

"Damian, why are you even here if you're not going to compliment me?" I teased.

"That was a compliment wench. And I am here to make sure you won't make a fool of yourself at my father's gala."

"Oh really? It's not because Kara's here is it?" I whispered.

Damian instantly started blushing and turned to leave. While he walked away from the dressing rooms, we noticed that Damian seemed a little flustered. _I must have guessed right? _Kara and I laughed in response. It surprised me when I woke up to Damian knocking at my door this morning. Sure, he says that he didn't want me to make a fool out of myself, but I think that he just wanted to hang out with me. Plus, I was certain that he had a crush on Kara.

After purchasing the dress, we decided to go to the mall's food court to have some lunch. Since it was Thursday, the mall was pretty empty. I got lucky because my calc professor decided to cancel classes for the day, perfect timing to go shopping.

"What is that monstrosity you're eating?" Damian complained as he munched on his salad.

"It's a burger, duh?" I couldn't understand why he had to comment on everything I did.

"It looks like a heart attack. Geez woman are you sure you're going to fit in your dress after ingesting that filth?"

Kara slapped Damian in the back of his head, "What have I told you about calling people fat?"

"Blasted alien," Damian grumbled. His upcoming onslaught of verbal abuse was put on hold thanks to an unexpected visitor.

"Bruce!" a little girl yelled. Damian turned to face her, his body rigid.

"Erm, hi Nell, how are you?" Damian stuttered. He was talking to Nell Little, a girl Damian befriended when he went undercover. It also seemed like she was a fan of mine.

"I'm great! I came to the mall with my mom but I saw you and wanted to say hi," Nell replied. "Are these your sisters?"

"Them? No no no, they're my… um … friends," Damian choked out. I tried my best to hold back my grin.

"Oh that's nice! Well I gotta go now, my mom's calling me. See you later, Bruce!" Nell yelled as she ran off, her dark curls bouncing with each step. Damian kept waving as he turned around, however he stopped when he noticed the grins painted on our faces

"Stop smiling or I'll stab you both."

* * *

The next couple of days felt like a blur. In reality, I was really looking forward to the gala. If anything, it was just a blown up version of a school dance. Tim and I would dress up and dance the night away. It almost seemed perfect and normal, or as normal it ever got between us. The past month has been so crazy, especially with Jason in the picture. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Jason since the night Mr. Freeze and Firefly attacked the city. That whole night was full of surprises.

I woke up at around noon on Saturday so I could get ready for the gala. However, my productivity was quickly put to a halt due to the fact that I could smell the aroma of fresh waffles make its way to my room. I instantly perked up and made my way downstairs for my delicious brunch.

"Morning Stephanie, are you ready for tonight?" Mom smiled. I could tell she was pretty excited for me.

I took a seat at the table and chirped my response, "Almost, I have my dress and shoes. I just need to do my hair, nails and make up."

"That sounds great sweetheart. You're definitely going to need breakfast." Mom laid the waffles and syrup on the table along with different fruits for toppings. Today was _definitely_ special.

After brunch I got started on everything I needed to do to get ready. It was a pretty quick process, painting my nails purple and doing my make up. I tried for a simple look, not putting too much make up on, just some blush, eyeliner, mascara and lip-gloss. But the hardest part was figuring how I wanted my hair. There were only so many styles I knew I could pull off, so I spent a half an hour online trying to find a way to do my hair. I finally decided on a waterfall braid that would lead into curls.

Before I knew it, my entire day flew by and I had a little under an hour before seven. I shimmied into my dress and slipped on my silver heels. I checked myself out in the mirror one more time before I was satisfied. I then grabbed my clutch and made my way down the stairs.

"Oh, Stephanie, you look beautiful!" My mom looked like she was about to tear up. She took a quick picture while I was still on the stairs. I rolled my eyes and laughed it off.

I looked out the window and noticed headlights and a limo parked in front of the house. I opened the door before Tim had a chance to knock. A smile crept onto his face when our eyes connected.

"Wow, Steph, you look gorgeous," Tim complimented as he kissed my cheek.

"Well you don't look too bad yourself, but your tie is a little crooked," I blushed as I fixed his tie and then wiped the nonexistent lint off of his lapel. Tim looked amazing. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a purple vest and tie and it looked like he got a haircut.

"Here I have something for you." Tim then revealed a velvet jewelry box. The box contained a necklace with a diamond, heart shaped locket.

"Oh my God, Tim, it's beautiful. I can't possibly accept it," I muttered, almost speechless.

"Yes you can, it's a gift Steph." Tim took the necklace from the box and motioned for me to turn around so he could put it on. I acquiesced and brought my hair over my shoulder so Tim could put the necklace on me.

"Why are you so good to me?" I asked as I turned and cradled Tim's cheek with my palm.

"It's because I love you and you deserve it," Tim said as he held his arm out for me. However, before we could leave, Mom insisted that we posed for some pictures.

"Okay, okay Mom! We gotta go!" I goaded as I led Tim towards the limo. Before I closed the door I heard her wish us a good time.

We made our way to the limo where Alfred met us with a smile. The ride across the city was a comfortable quiet. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the stars were shining bright. It seemed someone out there was working hard to make this evening perfect. I felt Tim's hand make its' way to mine almost nervously. _I missed this._

When we made it to the hotel there was a hoard of reporters snapping pictures of Gotham's elite. Saying I was nervous was an understatement. Something about the paparazzi made a chill run down my spine. Tim noticed my rigidity and gently squeezed my hand.

"Don't worry about them. Remember, tonight's about us," Tim whispered in my ear. His reassurance calmed my nerves a little and I was able to muster the courage to follow him into the hotel. The ballroom was huge, with several tables throughout the area. There was also a band playing some jazz music onstage, in front of the dance floor.

Dick was the first one to greet us, bringing his brother into a bear hug. He then gave me a similar embrace and complimented on how beautiful I looked. I could see Babs talking with a woman in a scarlet dress a few feet away from us. She gave me a wink and I flashed a smile. Dick must have asked her to be his date. _I wonder if she knew about the gala? That must be why she was smiling so much the other day._

After greeting a few more people, Tim and I finally ended up speaking with Bruce.

"You look beautiful Stephanie, I'm glad that you could make it," Bruce welcomed. I smiled in response and gave Bruce a kiss on the cheek. _Much better than a slap if I do say so myself._

The three of us then made our way to the table we shared with Dick, Babs, Damian, and the woman wearing the scarlet dress. I recognized her from her posters.

"Zatanna, I'd like you to meet Stephanie Brown. Stephanie, this is Zatanna Zatara, my date," Bruce introduced. Zatanna then stood up and offered her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Stephanie," Zatanna smiled.

"The pleasure's mine, and please call me Steph," I answered as we both sat down. I flashed Tim a look and he shrugged in response.

By the time all of the guests had arrived, the waiters began to walk around with assorted hors d'oeuvres and wines on their platters. The Wayne boys then made their way to the different potential donors, playing friendly to ease some of the money from their pockets. I stayed behind and chatted with Barbara and got better acquainted with Zatanna. Apparently Zatanna received an invitation in the mail out of the blue. She's actually still confused why Bruce didn't ask Selina to accompany him. _I guess that's this evening's big mystery._

The band started to play some slower songs and I noticed that a few couples made their way to the dance floor. My eyes shifted in Tim's direction, but he was still chatting away with one of the social elite. Who knew when he would be free? At that moment, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Dance with me, Brown," Damian insisted with a serious look painted across his face as he held his hand out to me.

"That's no way to ask a lady to dance y'know," I quipped, taking his hand. Damian huffed as he led me to the dance floor, slipping his other hand onto my waist.

For being –_how old is he again? Ten?_ – Damian could dance. Maybe Alfred insisted that he learned how, but in any case I was glad that he wasn't stepping on my freshly painted toes. We danced in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"I need your help, Brown," Damian confessed.

"With what?" Damian didn't ask for help often, so when he did it was something big.

"Putting all the pieces together. Over the past month there have been unexplainable crimes throughout the city. Remember the night the city was covered with fire and ice?" Damian indicated. I nodded, waiting for him to continue. "Well it wasn't Mr. Freeze or Firefly. Both of them were locked up at the time. Someone must have impersonated them to get our attention. The problem is that we weren't able to find whoever instigated the attacks."

"That seems like a pretty out of the way method to get our attention," I admitted. Damian was right though, there have been random unsolved murders that even Bruce has been having trouble figuring out.

"I think the dart you found might play a bigger role in this than my father originally thought. Someone seems to be attempting to attack Gotham," Damian concluded. Before he could continue our conversation, a hand fell onto Damian's shoulder.

"Mind if I cut in?" Tim asked, surprised with my choice of dance partner.

Damian simply grunted as he handed me over to Tim, nodding to me as he walked away.

"That was weird," Tim chuckled. "Why were you dancing with Damian?"

"Because he asked me. Unlike someone I know," I teased. Tim began to blush as he rested a hand on my hip and took my hand in the other.

"Sorry, I had to talk with a few people, and you know how much they like to hear themselves talk," Tim apologized. We started to sway with the music, keeping in time with the rhythm.

"S'okay, as long as you're here now." I rested my head on his chest as we moved. There was that comfortable silence that surrounded us again. It took us to another world, away from our everyday problems.

Tim broke the silence, which caused me to bring my head up. "Steph, I'm so glad you came tonight."

"Well the invitation didn't give me much choice, boy wonder." I stifled a laugh, I could tell Tim was trying to be serious and I didn't want to ruin the moment.

"I mean it," Tim started. "I know things have been a little rocky between us lately, but you getting hurt put things in perspective. It helped me realize how important you are to… _hmph!_"

I cut Tim off by crashing my lips to his. He was definitely stunned at first, but he quickly shook it off. My hand rose from his shoulder to cup his cheek as he brought me closer to his body. We had stopped dancing and simply stood there, basking in the moment.

I pulled away from our kiss and looked into his dazed eyes. "You talk too much."

I looked around and noticed that everyone's eyes were on us. I heard wolf whistles and cheers coming from several other dancers. _Well it seems that society approves of me._

However, it was at this moment where the evening took a turn for the worst.

_Crash!_

I heard shattering glass and screams as the doors of the ballroom were kicked opened. There were about a half dozen armed and masked goons that entered the room.

"Okay people, ya'll know what we want. Just put your valuables in the bags and no one needs to get hurt," the leader yelled. He snapped and his five comrades opened duffle bags and began pointing their guns toward the different guests.

_This is bad._ I could tell that this was the worst time for robbers to hit. We were all exposed, in a crowded room. We definitely couldn't sneak out and get changed into our costumes. I eyed Tim and he shook his head telling me to wait. I saw that Zatanna was about to mutter a spell, but she suddenly fainted, along with about half of the other guests. This caused everyone else to panic. _Someone must have drugged the wine! Some serious thought was put into this._

Most of the guests complied out of fear and threw their wallets and jewelry into their bags. However, there was one woman who wouldn't part with her ring.

"No, you can't have it! It's a family heirloom!" the woman cried.

"Stupid bitch!" the thug cocked his arm, looking like he was about to pistol whip the woman. _Well that's enough of that._

"Hey, leave that poor woman alone!" I yelled as I stepped forward.

The thug was surprised by my outburst and walked toward me. "Well what do we have here? You're a pretty little thing aren't you?" He raised his gun used the muzzle to outline the curve of my cheek.

Tim was about to lunge at the guy when we heard laughing coming from the doors.

"Is that any way to treat a woman?"

"Who the hell are you?" the thug asked, pointing his gun towards the door.

"I'm the Red Hood, nice to meet you," Jason cracked as he shot the guy in the leg.

The thug fell to the floor, writhing in pain as he grabbed at his wound. At that moment five other guns were pointed at Jason. However, Jason pulled a trigger looking device from his jacket pocket and wiggled it in front of the perps.

Disregarding the trigger, the other would-be robbers tried to shoot their weapons. Unfortunately their weapons wouldn't fire. Without their guns, the perps decided to try to overpower Jason. Jason easily blocked all of the punches thrown at him and knocked the thugs onto the ground. At that moment, the other guests banned together to hold down beaten robbers.

When he heard the police sirens getting closer, Jason turned towards the exit. "Well, I guess my job's done here."

Jason ran through the door just as the police and ambulance reached the hotel. I looked around and most of the guests who were knocked out started to regain consciousness. Tim ran towards me and brought me to a tight embrace.

"Don't ever do that again," Tim whispered worriedly into my ear.

"Hey, I'm okay. Don't worry, I knew it was gunna work out," I reassured. At that moment, Dick walked over to see if we were okay.

"What's Hood doing here? I thought he left Gotham with that Scarlet chick," Tim asked his older brother.

"I'm not sure, but someone should go catch him before he gets too far," Dick suggested.

"I'll do it," I answered without skipping a beat.

"Steph, you don't know anything about this guy. You could get hurt," Tim pleaded.

"Hey, no one would notice me slip outta here. Besides, you guys need to be here to make sure everyone's okay and so that they don't get too suspicious," I explain as I make my way to the side exit of the ballroom.

I called Wendy and told her to program the Compact to meet me outside of the hotel. It's waiting for me in a darkened alley when I emerge through a back exit of the hotel. My Batsuit was in the back as I climbed in and stripped off my gown. I quickly threw on my Batsuit and left the Compact to grapple onto the nearest rooftop.

I'm not surprised when I see Jason waiting on the rooftop, sitting down and looking over his gun nonchalantly. His leather jacket danced in the wind as he stood up to greet me.

"I was hoping that it would be you who'd come after me," Jason breathed. He walked towards me, holstering his weapon.

"Why were you at the gala?" I spat, there was no time for pleasantries tonight, not if I wanted to get this figured out before the rest of the family suits up and looks for him.

"I saved the day of course," Jason quipped. I heard the _hiss_ that accompanied him removing his helmet, revealing the red domino mask underneath.

"Why? Saving socialites normally isn't your thing." His face falls when I ask him.

"You think I care about those trust fund rejects? No, I stopped the robbery to save you." His eyes were locked onto mine as he stepped closer.

"You could have been shot! I don't see any bullet proof padding underneath that jacket! God Jason, why were you so reckless!" I reprimanded. He had no reason to try and save me, he didn't owe me anything.

"Psh, you think those guys would have shot me?" Jason asked as he pulled out the trigger looking device he held earlier. "It's a disruptor, I used it to jam their guns before I went in."

"Oh, well if that's the case, you didn't need to shoot that guy!"

"He's lucky I shot his leg! The way he was touching you, I should have killed him," Jason declared. "But since good old Bats was present this evening, I thought it would be a bad idea to blow the guy's head off."

I slumped my shoulders as I exhaled deeply. I stepped closer to him, the atmosphere electrifying. I caught a glimpse of his eyes underneath his mask, those soft ocean blue eyes that held the intensity of a thousand suns.

"Why are you doing this Jason?" I shrug. He smiled in response.

"Because, I don't give up that easily." Before I could answer, Jason pulls me into a kiss that was a literal shock to my system.

His lips attack mine as if he was drowning and I was his only lifeline. My initial urge to push him away was obscured by the ecstasy of his scent, a mixture of cologne and leather. I closed my eyes as I allowed my senses to appreciate the onslaught of pent up passion from Jason's kiss.

However, a pang of guilt rang through my chest, which caused me to bring my hands to Jason's chest to push him away. I regret the lack of contact the instant I pull away.

"Jason, I can't. I'm in a really good place with Tim right now, I don't want to mess it up," I confess. I see the rejection in his eyes as he processes what I just told him.

"You say that now, but don't worry, you'll come around." Jason winked as he put his helmet back on. He then walked towards the edge of the rooftop and jumped off, disappearing into the ever-concealing darkness.

_What the hell have I gotten myself into?_


	8. Old Threads

Ch. 8 Old Threads

_I don't like this. _I was in bed rereading old text messages from Tim. They were sweet little messages that he'd send me throughout the day when he was bored at work. I would sneak a peak at my phone during class and read the messages. They would always get me through a boring lecture. The only reason I was in bed at eleven o'clock on a Sunday evening was because Tim asked me to.

Tim was meeting with Lynx to get any information that could help us get a better idea of what was happening throughout the Gotham underground. We were on patrol together when he suggested that he go check in on her.

In reality, I still didn't know what actually happened between them. All I knew was that Tim talked to Lynx and told her they were over. He broke off whatever they had so that he could be with me. I guess this makes me sound like a paranoid girlfriend, but I know that Lynx doesn't like me. That fact alone made her a wild card. I don't know how they left things. Was she okay with their break up? Was she furious? I had no idea of knowing what Lynx would do to Tim if he managed to track her down. However, I do trust Tim completely and I decided not to betray that trust and returned home like he suggested.

The only noise I heard was crickets outside. As much as I wanted to fall asleep and stop worrying, it's been hard to snooze recently. Damian was right, there have been a ridiculous amount of murders scattered across Gotham. The number of gang related violence has doubled since the night of the gala last weekend. Everyone in Gotham was scared they could become targets or collateral damage.

It's been pretty tough the past week. Bruce has had us looking everywhere for any sort of clue of what the heck was going on. Plus, the fact that everyone knew Jason was back in Gotham didn't help either. Tim has been especially suspicious about Jason's return. I'm so lucky that he didn't know that I knew Jason. But there was no use trying to sort everything out now. I put my phone aside and brought the covers over my head and tried to fall sleep.

* * *

"Okay, pencils down. Turn in your exam on the way out," my English teacher instructed. I quickly filled in the last blank before I stood up, brushed the eraser rubbings off my leggings, gathered my book bag and handed my test to my professor.

I couldn't get out of that lecture hall fast enough. I felt pretty confident on my exam. Sure I barely had time to read any of the stories that were assigned, but the exam just covered _Julius Caesar _and _Oedipus Rex_, no big deal. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. Today seemed like it was going to be a good day, completely different compared to how I was feeling earlier this morning.

I absentmindedly took my phone out of my pocket and checked to see if I received any texts during the exam. Nothing. I shrugged and continued to walk towards the entrance of the campus, until I bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" I quickly apologized before I looked up to see Tim smiling and shaking his head.

A smile danced onto my face when I saw him. Having an exam on a Monday morning totally bummed me out, but seeing Tim made it better. He most likely came from work, which would explain the reason why he was wearing his black suit. I noticed that his hair looked different, he styled it to look like it was kinda blowing in the wind, and it looked good on him. I gave him a quick peck on the lips as I wrapped my arm in the curve of his.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, boyfriend?" I chirped. I laid my head on his shoulder as we continued to make our way to the edge of the campus.

"What? I can't come and see you at school now?" Tim asked in a mock hurt voice. I raised an eyebrow and gave him a quick look. Tim laughed as he continued walking towards the parking lot. "I decided to eat out for lunch today and was wondering if you'd like to join me."

"Well, how could I say no?" I quipped. Tim then relieved my shoulder of the weight of my book bag, placing it in the passenger seat of the Redbird. I laid my head back on his shoulder as he led me towards the many shops and small restaurants that surrounded the University. "I like your hair by the way."

"Thanks, thought I'd try something new," Tim beamed.

We walked in silence for a while, enjoying the beautiful spring weather. It was windy, and I was lucky that I decided to bring a sweater. I decided to stop when we passed the glass shop that I admired once before. Most of the ornaments were as I remembered them. However, the robin was missing and the collection of ornaments seemed a bit dimmer without it. _Hmm, someone must have bought it?_ After a few minutes of staring Tim tugged at my arm, signaling that we should continue walking towards our mini-date.

"So, did you dig up anything useful last night?" I whispered, breaking the silence.

Tim's face fell, "Actually, no. She didn't want to speak with me."

I nodded as I let his answer sink in. Part of me was glad that Lynx didn't want to see him, and another part felt bad due to the fact that Tim may have lost a valuable ally because of me. I looked up to see Tim staring at me, smiling his carefree smile as he planted a chaste kiss on my forehead. That was enough for me to forget my concerns.

* * *

"Thanks for giving me a ride home, boyfriend." I smiled as Tim walked me to my door. "Will I see you tonight?"

"Sorry Stephie, I'm going to be with the Titans for a couple of days. There are some things we need to check out, blah blah blah," Tim confessed.

"S'okay, don't have too much fun while you're there though," I teased as I pulled Tim into a kiss. He wrapped his arms around my waist as he brought me closer to him. The kiss lingered as we basked in each other's presence, a small comfort in our crazy lives. Tim broke the kiss and gave me a wink, as he walked back towards the Redbird.

I kept waving until Tim was no longer in my vision. Today was perfect. It seems that every moment together meant so much more. I'm so glad to see him happy too. For too long, Tim's been in the darkness that often comes with the Bat territory. He's lost so much, and I can't help but feel proud that he's still standing strong and relying on the people who care about him most.

I relished in the fact that this time, things would work out. I let out a sigh as I turned the keys, unlocking the door. However, when I entered the living room, I walked into a scene that sent shivers down my spine. There he was, Jason Todd, sitting on the couch, eating cookies and laughing with my mom. They noticed that I arrived home and brought me into their conversation.

"Stephanie, dear. Your friend Jason's here to meet you for your calculus study session." Mom held back a chuckle. Whatever they were talking about before I came in must have been _pretty_ funny.

"Oh, I'm _so sorry_ to have kept you waiting Jason, I didn't know we had a session tonight," I mumbled.

"Y'know I told you she forgot about me, Mrs. Brown," Jason laughed. His pretty boy charm has obviously won over Mom.

"How was your exam today, Stephanie?" Mom asked, completely oblivious to the tension in the room.

"Pretty good, it took a little longer than I thought. Then afterwards, I went out with Tim," I replied. My answer caused Jason to stand straighter and raise an eyebrow.

"That's great sweetheart. I'll get out of your hair and let you kids hit the books," Mom sat up from the chair, grabbed her purse and headed out of the house, leaving me alone with Jason in our living room.

I close the distance between us and grip his arm; but I'm unable to get my hand completely around his firm bicep. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to study, remember? Your mom is really nice," Jason chuckled.

I released his arm and ran my hands through my hair in complete irritation. "Why did you introduce yourself to my mom! Are you crazy?"

"Oh c'mon, she thinks I'm a kid from your calculus class who needs help. No harm done," Jason shrugged. He scooted over so I could have a seat with him on the couch.

"What if I decided to invite Tim inside, huh? What then?" I accused.

"C'mon Steph, I already knew that he wasn't coming in," Jason shrugged. I let out a sigh. As much as I wanted to be upset at him, it was difficult. It didn't help that he wore the black v-neck he wore on our date. The fabric conformed to the contours of his muscles perfectly, totally distracting.

"Why are you really here, Jason?" I asked as I took the seat next to him. Jason wouldn't have come to my house unannounced without good reason.

Jason remained silent as he took out a few pictures out of his jacket pocket and laid them on the table. I leaned forward to get a better look at them. The first picture had three men in suits I didn't recognize in an apartment building. There were similar pictures of men in suits taken all around Gotham.

"These guys are the ones who have been behind the unexplained killings around Gotham. All third rate mercs who came from out of town. It seems like they want to make a name for themselves but I'm not sure who their employer is," Jason explained. "I kinda need your help."

* * *

It was almost midnight and I have been perched on this rooftop for the past hour waiting for Jason to show up. It was raining and my legs were starting to cramp due to crouching for so long. I had to convince Wendy that I didn't need her to keep an eye on me tonight. Luckily enough, she didn't pry into my reasons for wanting to run solo.

Jason told me to meet him on one of the warehouses near Gotham River. I found it odd that he decided to pick such an out of the way meeting place. Nevertheless, I told him that I'd meet him here. I waited ten more minutes before I felt a chill run up my spine. I turned to see Jason behind me, raindrops dripping off of his smooth scarlet helmet.

"Been waiting long?" Jason smirked.

"I've been here for an hour you douche! Why are you so late?" I yelled, as I shivered from the cold.

"I couldn't figure out what to wear," he cracked. I sighed in response. There was nothing out of the ordinary about his Red Hood attire this evening. The only thing that looked different was that he had a bulletproof vest under his jacket.

"Well while you were busy dressing up, I was here watching over nothing." My complaints fell on deaf ears as Jason walked over to join me at the edge of the rooftop.

"Look, it took me an extra hour to track down and get the info out of my source," Jason shrugged. "But I got what we need and we have to move fast."

We ran for several minutes, the cold rain pierced my exposed skin like knives. However, the torrential downpour didn't even hinder Jason's pace. Jason running was a sight to behold. It was amazing how fast and graceful he could move with such a large figure. It was difficult balancing my admiration and annoyance with Jason. One minute he could irritate the hell out of me, and the next I absentmindedly catch myself checking him out. I allowed the rain to wash away those thoughts as we jumped onto an abandoned apartment building and finally stopped running.

"We're here." Jason pointed towards the adjacent warehouse, where we saw light from one of the windows.

I looked at the warehouse and recognized it immediately. It was the warehouse that Lynx used as her gang's base. There were people inside the building doing who knows what. Then I noticed an office section of the warehouse where Lynx was sitting in a chair behind a desk. It looked as if she was waiting for someone. Soon the other lights throughout the warehouse turned off and Lynx was the only one left in the hideout. She removed her mask and placed it on the desk, revealing the familiar face of a beautiful young woman.

"Man, she's smokin'. No wonder Tim had the hots for her," Jason whistled.

"Why are we here Hood?" I spat back. Meeting him like this already made me uncomfortable, and now it seemed like we were about to talk to Lynx. Not my ideal night.

"My snitch told me that Lynx might know something about those pictures I showed you earlier. So, here we are," Jason stated. He leapt off of the roof and landed onto the ground in front of the office door. I quickly joined him, as he opened the door.

Lynx turned around with a hopeful look in her eyes. She looked like a lovesick schoolgirl, waiting for the man of her dreams. However, when she realized that it was the Red Hood visiting, she instantly reformed her gang leader visage.

"What do you want?" Lynx spat. She didn't seem at all disturbed by the fact that Jason just barged into her hideout.

"We have a few questions," Jason answered as he stepped away from the doorframe, allowing me to enter the office and reveal my presence. Lynx huffed as soon as we made eye contact.

"No, leave," Lynx ordered as she turned around to exit the office through another door.

Jason took out one of his guns from the holster and pointed it towards Lynx. "That wasn't a request."

Lynx stopped her retreat and turned stare Jason down once again. It seemed like she knew what he was asking about. She crossed her arms and as if she was contemplating whether or not to answer. After a few moments of silence, Lynx answered, "They are meeting at Crime Alley in an hour, abandoned building across clinic."

"See that wasn't so hard," Jason quipped as he put his weapon away and exited the office. I turned to follow Jason as Lynx's words stopped me in my tracks.

"You don't deserve him."

* * *

We were able to make it to Crime Alley in no time due to the fact that Jason had one of his safe houses nearby. We made a quick stop and grabbed his motorcycle, which sped up our travel time. Once we neared Crime Alley, we dismounted the bike so that we could stealthily climb onto the roof of Leslie Thompkin's clinic. Once there, I noticed that there was a single illuminated window the in the not-so-abandoned apartment building.

Jason pulled out a pair of binoculars pointed towards the window. I grabbed my binoculars from my utility belt and scanned the room and found a completely empty room except for a single table in the middle. There were the three men in suits that surrounded the table. It seemed like the men were waiting for someone. At that moment, I saw the door open and the men stood up to greet whoever was entering. The men blocked my view of who came through the door, but whoever it was, they were wearing a costume. Although I couldn't see exactly whom they were greeting, I was able to see what color they he or she was wearing. It was a familiar color. _Eggplant_.

The men finally sat down and what I saw caused my eyes to widen. The men were greeting someone in the Spoiler costume. I couldn't believe it; I never thought that someone would steal my old threads. I stiffened at the thought that someone has been parading around Gotham, committing murders and other crimes in my old costume.

Jason noticed how affected I was and put a hand on my shoulder. "You okay?"

I answered with a nod, but I was still a bit shaken. I needed to know who that person was but Batman wouldn't want me to just rush in there and take on those mercs on my own without fully knowing the situation. _Maybe I shouldn't have come without Proxy watching my back. At least with Wendy watching over me, I wouldn't be alone._ Then I remembered that I wasn't actually alone.

"You have my back, Hood?" I turned and asked Jason.

"You know it, blondie," Jason answered as he pulled his gloves tight.

I launched my grappling hook and propelled myself into the room. I saw Jason following my lead as I crashed through the window. Before the mercs could reach for their weapons, Jason landed next to me pointing his guns at the men and shot off a few warning shots. _I hope he doesn't kill anyone tonight! That would not go well with Bruce._

The copycat Spoiler was surprised by our intrusion. She turned and ran out the door she came through. I followed Spoiler as she made her way through the maze of debris throughout the hall. There was a reason this building was abandoned. Some of the walls were collapsed and some stairs were missing. Overall, it was a perfect place for a secret meeting.

Once I cleared the several flights of broken stairs, I finally made it to the roof. She was on the opposite side of the roof, and it seemed like she wanted to have some room for a fight. There were no apparent weapons on her costume, so I ran towards Spoiler in an attempt to apprehend her.

"Batgirl watch out!" Jason tackled me to the ground as I heard a small explosion erupt on the rooftop.

"Spoiler's planted proximity mines throughout the roof! We have to be careful," Jason warned.

Since that was the case, I decided to change my tactics. I grabbed a hold of Jason's waist and launched my grappling hook to the adjacent building, pulling the two of us out of harm's way. I then threw a few electro-rangs across the rooftop. Spoiler saw what I was planning on doing and also launched a grappling hook to lunge herself onto the safety of our rooftop. When the electro-rangs connected, a few of them set off mines, causing other explosions. The accompanying electric jolt from the rest of the electro-rangs caused the simultaneous detonations of the other mines.

After the commotion, Spoiler quickly got up and took up a fighting stance. I lunged towards her as I grabbed my boomstick, prepared to swing my weapon. However, Spoiler quickly dodged my swing and revealed hidden blades. She lunged towards me with relentless fervor. I was able to dodge her knives, but I wasn't able to hit her either. I foolishly dropped my defense and Spoiler was able to kick my stomach, causing the wind to get knocked out of me.

I was doubled over and attempting to catch my breath when Jason came up from behind me and unsheathed his own knife, slashing away at Spoiler. Both seemed evenly matched and there was no way to tell who would come out victorious. However, the instant Spoiler stopped her onslaught of slashes, Jason then pulled out one of his guns and threatened to shoot her. The whites of her mask widened as she stilled.

I ran up towards Jason as fast as I could and pushed his arm upwards as he was about to shoot. The pang of the gunshot echoed through the night sky. Spoiler took the opportunity to toss a gas pellet onto the ground, which filled the air with thick smoke. When the smoke cleared, Spoiler was gone.

"What the hell! You just let her get away!" Jason accused.

"You were about to kill her!" I retorted. There was no way I was about to let Jason murder someone right in front of me.

"She probably would have done the same to you!"

"Doesn't matter, that's not how Batman does things. That's not how _I _do things." I crossed my arms and stood my ground as Jason walked towards me. His helmet inched closer and closer to my face. He stopped so close that I could see my reflection in the metallic red mask.

"Fine, whatever," Jason acquiesced, taking a step back. He rummaged through his pockets and presented me with a few papers. "These are some of the jobs the mercs were going to run for the Spoiler. There are also some planned drug exchanges and weapons deals that the mercs were supposed to enforce. It's hard to believe that this Spoiler is the mastermind behind all of this."

I looked through the papers and noticed something familiar about the weapons that were supposed to be sold. "It says here that Spoiler's gang is supposed to be selling a case of darts coated with neurotoxin."

"Yeah, so?" Jason shrugged, obviously not catching the importance.

"So, this particular neurotoxin has been used by the League of Assassins. I'm betting that Spoiler is working with them," I hypothesized. Things were finally making some sense; the rise in gang activity, the arms deals and even the mysterious dart.

Police sirens were approaching followed by fire engines. The explosions on the other rooftop caused the roof to collapse. There was also a small fire that resulted from the detonations. This one person caused so much trouble, and she was wearing my old costume. _Can't say that's the type of legacy I wanted for the Spoiler._

"Well, I guess we'll find out next time we see her then," Jason sighed. He stretched his arms above his head as made his way towards the edge of the roof.

"Yeah, next time."


	9. Spoiler

Ch. 9 Spoiler

_Nothing_. For the past two days, Jason and I have been searching across Gotham for any clues regarding Spoiler's whereabouts. However, our efforts seem to have been wasted because we've come up with nothing. It's as if she disappeared, without a trace. Thing is, we _knew_ that Spoiler was still in Gotham. If our hunch was correct, Spoiler's the one behind the increased gang activity throughout the city. Also, she must have had some sort of connection to the League of Assassins. It would have been highly unlikely that Spoiler left the city. The problem was finding her.

After this evening's patrol, I decided to do some after hours work at Firewall. Wendy was being a good sport and stayed with me. I quickly changed out of my costume and into my gray sweatpants and a black, long sleeve shirt and made my way towards the computer. I padded over and took the seat next to Wendy.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Wendy asked as her fingers typed away.

"We're looking for the Spoiler," I answered while I brought my hair into a ponytail, wanting to get it out of my face after a long night.

Wendy's fingers stopped when she heard my answer and she shot me a confused look. "Wait a second, wasn't that you're old identity?"

I explained to Wendy everything that's happened to lead up to this point. I told her about Spoiler's supposed involvement with the Gotham gangs and the League of Assassins. Unfortunately, that also meant that I had to explain Jason's involvement in my investigation.

"So, Jason's been helping you look for Spoiler?" Wendy questioned. "I thought he was supposed to be a bad guy?"

"That's what everyone's been telling me, but now I'm not too sure," I sighed as I leaned back on the chair, my fingers interlaced behind my head. "He's saved me a couple times and he's helping me figure this case out. Maybe he's trying to change? Who am I to deny him that chance?"

Wendy shrugged. "Look, I don't know much about Jason Todd, but I do know you Steph. You need to be careful, you never know what could happen."

"Don't worry, what's the worst that could happen?" I laughed. At that moment, I felt my cell phone vibrate, signifying a text message. When I saw whom the message was from, my face quickly fell. It was as if the universe was trying to tell me something.

_Brown, meet with me after school tomorrow. We need to discuss some things. – Damian_

* * *

My Thursday morning was hands down the slowest morning ever. I couldn't believe how long it took for all of my classes to finally end. I felt like a zombie when I finally left the lecture hall. To my surprise I saw Alfred waiting for me in the parking lot.

"Good afternoon, Miss Stephanie. Master Damian thought that you would prefer to be picked up after class," Alfred greeted.

"Hi Alfred! Damian really is a sweetheart isn't he?" I chirped in response. Alfred smiled as opened my car door.

The ride to the Manor didn't take too long. However, it gave me time to think about everything that's been going on in Gotham. People have been dying because we couldn't stop a single girl in my hand-me-downs. The thought alone churned my stomach.

When we arrived, Alfred first stopped at the kitchen to grab a platter of cookies and a pitcher of milk. We then traveled together down to the cave. Damian was standing in front of Jason's memorial while waiting for me. Alfred announced my arrival as he laid the snacks down.

"Thank you, Pennyworth. Hello Brown," Damian greeted. He turned his attention away from the old costume and faced me. Alfred turned to leave, giving us some privacy.

"Hey, thanks for sending Alfred to pick me up from school," I responded, filling a glass with milk and grabbing a cookie.

"You're welcome. Now, down to business," Damian started. "Why are you so attached to the Red Hood?"

Damian's question surprised me so much that I spat out the milk I was drinking. "Wait, what?"

"I'm asking you why Jason Todd fascinates you so much," Damian emphasized. "During the night of the gala, you jumped at the opportunity to chase after him. Which is confusing to me, because aren't you Drake's girlfriend? I never thought of you as an actual harlot."

"It's not like that!" I declared as I stood up. "I was the most logical choice to go after him. That doesn't mean that I'm cheating on Tim with Jason!"

"If that's the case, why'd you almost kiss him the night Gotham was covered in fire and ice? Weren't you also on a date with Drake that evening?"

"It's complicated…" I admitted, grabbing another cookie and breaking it into pieces.

Thing was, I didn't completely know how I felt about Jason. I never thought that he would have such an effect on me. Our encounters have become very familiar and I've gotten used to having Jason in my life. But, I wasn't totally sure if this familiarity was a good thing.

"Well you better figure it out because sooner or later you're going to get hurt," Damian huffed.

"So you do care?" I teased as I nudged his shoulder.

"Yes, I suppose I do."

Alfred drove me back home after Damian and I concluded our talk. To be honest, the heart to heart with Damian definitely was not what I had in mind when I read his text last night. However, he helped put some of the things in perspective. Damian was right; I needed to sort out my feelings for Jason.

* * *

The hard part about being a vigilante college student is actually keeping up with the homework. I was staring at the same set of calculus problems for the past hour. There were only a couple of classes left before finals started, and then everything would be crazy. Not to mention that I had my work cut out for me looking for Spoiler.

I tapped my pen on my open notebook passing the time until some sort of sense was made from the different equations. Of course, I couldn't spend all night slaving over my homework; I had to go on patrol with Damian.

I made my way to Firewall around eleven so I could suit up. When I got there, Wendy was typing away at the computers. I made my way to the locker rooms so I could change into my Batsuit. I quickly stripped off my clothes and without skipping a beat started pulling on my costume. There was a rhythm that came to being able to change from one identity to the other. After slipping on my gloves and fastening my cowl, I met Wendy at her workstation.

"Hey Wendy, what's up?" I greeted.

"Well, nothing new on your Spoiler case. But it doesn't help that you don't know who's behind the mask," Wendy started. "And I just got a message from Barbara. Someone was murdered in Robinson Park."

"Does she want me and Damian to check it out?" I questioned. Spoiler had to take a backseat tonight. Wendy was right, I didn't give her much to go on. I shouldn't have been surprised that she couldn't find anything.

"Seems like it, she wouldn't have called us if it wasn't important."

"Alrighty then, I'll take the Ricochet and meet Damian there. Don't wait up!"

Wendy didn't get a chance to answer, because I was already on my way to the garage. It didn't take me that long to make my way to Robinson Park. I left the Ricochet hidden in an abandoned alleyway and waited on the roof of an apartment building for Damian to arrive. There were cops everywhere and they squared off part of the park. I noticed Detective Gage among the men that surrounded the crime scene. I heard a thump behind me, signaling Damian's arrival. He walked up and joined me on the ledge of the roof.

"Why are we waiting so far away from the crime scene?" Damian scolded.

"I was waiting for you, slowpoke," I teased. "Let's go, Detective Gage will probably give us a few minutes alone with the scene."

"Gage? Another suitor?" Damian quipped. I waved the comment away as I landed on the pavement. I made my way through the shadows so I could get closer to the crime scene.

"Alright people, let's take a break, " Detective Gage instructed. When the other investigators dispersed, he coughed and said, "You can come out now."

"Hey Santa, what do we got?" I chirped as I hopped off of the branch I was waiting on. Damian quickly joined me.

"See for yourself, Batgirl … and Robin?"

The man lying before us looked as if he had been out drinking, which was emphasized by the fact that there was a bottle of liquor hidden in a paper bag clutched in his right hand. The victim was covered in multiple stab wounds and surrounded by a puddle of blood.

After examining the body further, I noticed that the man's wallet was about to fall out of his jacket pocket. When I opened it, I saw a picture of his wife and two kids along with a driver's license. Interestingly enough, the cash and credit cards were still in the wallet, meaning that this wasn't a robbery.

Damian also examined the body and noticed a piece of paper that was lodged in the inside pocket of the man's jacket. Damian pocketed it before Detective Gage noticed.

"We think this is linked to one of Gotham's newer gangs. They're full of guys who want to distinguish themselves," Detective Gage offered as he stepped towards the body.

Before Gage noticed, Damian and I made a silent exit back to the alleyway. Damian then pulled out the scrap of paper and pointed it towards me. Upon closer inspection, the piece of paper was actually a calling card that said, _Let the Punishment Fit the Crime_.

"This is Todd's doing," Damian accused.

"Hey, we don't know that!" I threw my hands up in protest, in an attempt to reason with Damian.

"It's the same calling card he left when he was running around in that ridiculous outfit!"

I swiped the card from Damian and took a quick look at it. "Even if it's the same card, why would he kill that guy? Doesn't he only kill if he had a reason to?"

"He's psychotic, would he _need_ a reason? And why are _you_ protecting him?" Damian jibed, pointing an accusatory finger at me.

"Because, I don't think he did it. Just let me talk to him before we start placing blame okay?" I pleaded.

"Very well, I'll let you handle this for now. But if he is the killer, I'm going to be the one to take him down," Damian sneered.

"Whatever. We better go look for some clues that can help us find the killer," I said as I put the card away and mounted the Ricochet. I looked over towards Damian to see that he was also mounting a brand new motorcycle. "Where did you get that bike?"

A smirk splashed across Damian's face as he answered, "Son. Of. Batman."

"You're a spoiled brat you know that?"

"tt. Where are we going Fatgirl?"

"We're going to go talk to Lynx."

The ride to Lynx's hideout didn't take long, but waiting for the rest of the Golden Dragons to leave did. Damian and I probably could have taken them on, but that was a confrontation that we didn't need. Once the other members left the warehouse for the evening, we made my way to the building.

When we opened the door, Lynx was reclined in her seat with her feet on her desk. She was relaxing, absentmindedly examining a knife. When she noticed that we entered her office, she shot me a look. When she got up, her knife was still held loosely in her hand.

"Why are you here?" Lynx asked coolly. With her mask off, I could see the ferocity in her eyes that was akin to her namesake. Even if she didn't look angry, I could tell that she didn't like us visiting.

"We need information," I started. "There was a murder that occurred this evening and we think that it might be gang related."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Lynx asked sarcastically.

"We want to know what the Red Hood is up to and if he's connected to the murder," Damian interjected as he stepped towards Lynx. She eyed him and smirked.

I shot him a look before Lynx answered him. "Why don't you ask her? She was with him the last time he visited." Damian raised an eyebrow but remained quiet.

"Look, we just want to know what you know about the other gangs. Maybe one of them committed the murder," I appealed.

"No," Lynx deadpanned. She began to play with the blade again, tracing the edge with her fingers. Damian stepped forward, ready to attack Lynx. Luckily, I grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"We need your help, if we don't act soon innocent people could die," I pleaded.

"Why should I help you?" Lynx inquired.

"Because that's what Red Robin would do," I answered. I didn't want to bring Tim into this, but we needed to find whoever's responsible for the murder.

Just then, Lynx slammed her knife down, embedding the blade into the wooden desk. She was angry, but tried hard to hide it. Once she released the handle, she made eye contact once again. "Then why don't you ask him for help?"

"He's not in Gotham at the moment," I started. "He told me that you could help him, he believed in your abilities."

A few moments passed as silence set into the room. However, Lynx seemed to take what I said to heart. She sighed, "There hasn't been any activity from the newer gangs recently. I doubt that one of their members is the murderer."

She pulled the knife from the desk and began to examine the blade with feigned interest. _If the gangs weren't involved, then who was the murderer?_ I nodded to Lynx and turned to leave. Once we were outside, Damian spoke.

"You used her previous relationship with Drake as emotional leverage, nice work," Damian praised. "However, I wonder, why did you visit Lynx with Hood?"

"Listen, it's complicated. I needed some information and Hood brought me to Lynx," I explained.

"Is that why you don't think he killed that man? He helps you once and you think he's a saint."

"No it isn't. We just don't have any proof, so before you start pointing fingers, get some hard evidence that Jason killed someone."

Instead of going back to the cave with Damian, I decided to touch base at Firewall. I made my way to the Ricochet, a few blocks away from Lynx's base. However, I had an unexpected visitor waiting for me.

"Hey you." Tim was leaning against the Ricochet in his Red Robin outfit. The whites of his lenses glistened in the moonlight as he rested his chin on his knuckles.

I ran over to Tim and pulled him into a kiss. "When did you get back?"

Tim cupped my chin as his fingers laced with mine. "About an hour ago, Proxy said you were out on patrol with Robin and I thought I'd swing by, see how you're holding up."

"Well, I could be better. Patrol with Robin is very draining. " I replied. I turned to see that there was a something on top of the Ricochet. "What's in the box?"

"I brought donuts," Tim laughed.

Tim must have looked ridiculous buying donuts in his Red Robin costume. Or did he do it before changing? Either way, it was totally sweet of him to get them. I decided to send the Ricochet back to Firewall while Tim and I ate our snacks on a rooftop. Our gloves were tossed in a pile to side and we both took off our cowls in order to remove that final barrier between us.

We talked for a while. Tim explained the drama that happened with the Titans and I filled Tim in on what Damian and I found out this evening. I went over Detective Gage's theory that the murder could be gang related. I even told Tim about talking with Lynx and how she told us that the gangs have actually been pretty quiet recently.

"Sounds like you've been busy," Tim teased.

"Just a bit," I laughed, taking a bite into a jelly filled donut.

"You've done good. Lynx didn't even want to talk to me. Plus, having Damian with you must have been hard," Tim complimented as he reached over to wipe off some of the jelly that made its way to my chin.

"Well thanks. Glad to know I'm appreciated around here," I quipped. Tim laughed as he popped the last piece of donut into his mouth. This was a good a time as any to ask him about our prime suspect. "Hey, what are your thoughts on the Red Hood?"

Tim started to chew slowly, as if my question was particularly difficult. After finally swallowing, Tim sighed, "Jason's dangerous, you can never know what he's up to."

"Why do you think he's in Gotham?"

"I'm not sure, but I can't believe that no one's tracked him down yet."

"Well, it doesn't seem like he's been getting into trouble lately, maybe he wants to keep a low profile?"

"But why is he back? Why did he help us at the gala?"

"Maybe he turned over a new leaf?" I reasoned.

"Why are you defending him?" Tim inquired. "You don't know what he's done." Tim looked genuinely confused at my interest in Jason's moral standing. Maybe Jason has changed, but everyone's too stubborn to see it.

"Everyone deserves a chance to make things right."

* * *

There had to be a reason why Jason's old calling card ended up on the murder victim. Damian suspected that Jason was the killer, and Tim believed that Jason's up to no good too. I couldn't place the blame on Jason just because of a card. There had to be more, and I wanted to give Jason the benefit of the doubt. The only way to find out the truth was to ask Jason himself.

"Look, I really enjoy the one on one time we have together, but I wasn't expecting you to actually come over," Jason laughed as he stepped aside to lead me into his living room. I walked in and quickly scanned the room. Everything looked the same since the last time I was here.

"Cut it out Jason, I came over because there's something we gotta talk about." Jason took a seat and motioned for me to join him. I sat cross-legged on the couch and turned so I could face Jason. "I need you to be completely honest with me."

Jason sighed as brought one leg over the other. "Why so serious, blondie?"

"Because, this _is _serious." I grabbed a throw pillow and absentmindedly played with the pieces of string that came loose at the corners. "There was a murder yesterday and this is what we found at the crime scene."

I took the calling card from my pocket and handed it to Jason. He took a minute and looked it over, finally realizing why I came over. "What, you think I did it?" Jason huffed as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"No, but Damian thinks you did."

"Of course he does," Jason laughed. He adjusted himself so he was leaning against the arm of the couch. After a few seconds, Jason's eyes locked on mine and he asked, "What makes you think I'm innocent?"

I broke our eye contact and played with the pillow for a few more seconds before laying it down on my lap. When I gathered my thoughts, I turned back to Jason and replied, "Well, there's nothing connecting you to the murder, other than that card. Besides, I really doubt that you'd commit murder knowing that I'd hunt you down if I found out."

"_You_, hunt _me_ down? I don't think so blondie," Jason teased, however the humor quickly evaporated as his face fell. "I didn't murder that man, but it wouldn't be hard for anyone to frame me. I threw hundreds of those cards around when I was messing with Grayson and the brat."

"Kinda came back to bite you in the ass, huh?" I quipped as I raised an eyebrow.

"You're telling me," Jason laughed, regaining the smile that was on his face only a moment ago. "So, does everyone else know that you came over to talk to me?"

"Nope, no one else knows. I wanted to talk to you without getting everyone involved." I started. "I felt like I owed you at least that much."

"You seem to have a lot of faith in me."

"Well, you've been helping me out with Spoiler. Seems like the least I could do."

"Speaking of Spoiler, you free tonight?" Jason smirked.

* * *

It seemed like I was always running somewhere when I was with Jason. Spoiler's been extremely hard to track down. Wendy hasn't been able to find any sort of lead that could help. Jason must have some awesome connections because apparently, Spoiler was supposed to be picking up some weapons from an unknown dealer at an abandoned warehouse tonight.

Before I knew it, we made it to our destination. There was a van that was waiting outside of the warehouse. I pulled out my binoculars to get a better look of the scene. I saw that the dealer was already waiting outside with his van open and his guards around. _Geez, don't these guys ever learn?_

A few moments later, Spoiler appeared and walked toward the dealer. After the leader gave a nod, the men opened the back of the van to reveal the different weapons that Spoiler must have been purchasing. She looked over the merchandise and nodded in approval. The men then started to lock up the van, as the leader was about to hand Spoiler the keys. I walked towards the ledge, ready to jump in so I could stop the transaction.

"Hold it blondie!" Jason yelled. I turned around to see that Jason was on one knee and his duffel bag was opened. _Great, while I was busy checking out the scene, Jason was assembling his bazooka!_

"Wait what are you…" _BOOM!_

Before I could stop him, Jason fired at the van, causing an explosion that not only destroyed the van and weapons but also sent everyone in the immediate vicinity flying. Jason then set his bazooka next to his bag and stretched his arms over his head.

"What the hell was that?!" I yelled. "Are you crazy? You could have killed someone!"

"Details baby, details. C'mon, let's go catch Spoiler," Jason joked as he leapt from our rooftop.

_Why do I deal with this? _When I joined Jason on the ground, he was fighting off the three guards that accompanied the dealer. Jason was dodging the flurry of punches that were aimed at him. He easily knocked down the assailants and turned to see that Spoiler was already making her escape towards the darkened alleyway. I told Jason that I would clean up the mess while he chased after Spoiler. Luckily, the leader was still unconscious from the explosion, so all I had to do was gather the four men and tie them up in a neat package waiting for the police.

It took me a few minutes to catch up to Jason and Spoiler. Jason chased her up the fire escape of a convenience store and they were engaged in combat on the roof. Both Jason and Spoiler had their knives out and were slashing at each other. I pulled out my boomstick and jumped into the fray. Noticing me running towards her, Spoiler threw one of her knives at me. I quickly dodged the blade and stepped forward to swing at her.

Whoever Spoiler was, she had some moves. She was able to dodge every attack Jason and I threw at her. Spoiler then slipped on brass knuckles on the hand that no longer held a knife. Next thing I knew, she swung at Jason's head and her punch connected with a loud crack, shattering the crimson mask. Luckily, Jason was wearing his helmet, or else that punch could have broken his jaw.

Spoiler's punch knocked Jason to the ground. She mounted him, her legs positioned to prevent the use of his arms. Her fingers wrapped around his neck as she raised her blade, ready for the kill. Before she could stab him with her knife, I threw a batarang that knocked it out of her hand. I ran towards Spoiler, tackling her off of Jason. She regained her footing and threw a smoke pellet to the ground, disappearing from sight. When the wind blew away the smoke, Spoiler was gone. I shrugged as I put away my boomstick and walked towards Jason.

"You alright?" I asked, offering a hand to him.

"Peachy," Jason coughed as I helped him up to his feet. "Um, you let her get away…"

"Don't worry, I placed a tracker on Spoiler when I tackled her, we'll catch her again. Besides, I had to save you," I smirked.

"I didn't need you to save me, I was handling it," Jason huffed as he brushed off his jacket. He then looked at the broken remains of his helmet and sighed, "That was a new helmet."

I laughed as I walked over next to Jason. I noticed a bruise start to form where Spoiler's punch connected. _She must have hit him hard as hell. _I brought my hand to Jason's cheek, to check the injury. Jason winced at the initial contact but then eased into my touch, placing his hand over mine. My eyes connected with the cascade orbs behind the lenses of Jason's domino mask.

Jason wrapped his hands around me, so that they rested on the small of my back. A blush crept onto my face as Jason pulled me so close there was almost no space between us. I could feel his breath on my face as he gently pulled my cowl back.

"Jason, what are you doing?" I murmured as I stepped back, breaking his hold on me. I did not like where this was going.

Jason then laughed as he closed the gap between us. He brought his lips to my ear and whispered back, "I'm distracting you."

_Whack! _Before I knew it I was on the ground, my head pounding. My vision was blurred and everything was spinning. I had no idea what hit me, but it hurt like crazy. I tried to get back up but a purple form kept me pinned to the ground. Another form entered my vision and before I blacked out I heard it say something.

"Good job, Scarlet."


	10. Bird's Eye View

Ch. 10 Bird's Eye View:

The Tim Drake Chapter

I was surprised that the training room of Titans Tower was completely empty. It was still early and normally I could catch Rose or Cassie in here doing something.

Training by myself wasn't the most exciting thing I could have done, but it gave me time to think about what's been going on in Gotham. It's been tough on all of us, trying to find out who's behind the recent gang activity. There was a new player in Gotham, and he knew how to cover his tracks and stay under the radar.

There's been so many unexplained coincidences, too many to be called coincidences anymore. None of us could find the person responsible for covering Gotham in fire and ice. Mr. Freeze and Firefly were both locked up at the time. And the night of the gala, over half of the guests collapsed when thugs attempted to rob everyone. It was as if the thugs knew that Zatanna was going to be there and that they had to have a way to incapacitate her. There was serious planning that went into the heist. Their timing was perfect. There was no way that any of us could have slipped away without being noticed. Plus, why was Jason there, and why did he help us? Too many questions, not enough answers.

Before I knew it, I spent two hours in the training room. Drenched in sweat, I made my way to my room for a shower. I peeled off my Red Robin costume and let the running water clear my head. I began to run shampoo through my hair; unfortunately, my mind quickly drifted to another one of my loose ends.

Lynx.

* * *

_She was late. Lynx and I have only seen each other a few times since Stephanie was shot. I took on Steph's patrol route, which didn't leave enough time for a nighttime rendezvous with Lynx. During the day I would hang out with Steph and keep her company as her wound healed. It was nice being reminded of how things were between the two of us. But every time I looked into Stephanie's eyes, I only saw the hurt she felt that night. I hurt her, and I failed her. I couldn't be the man she needed me to be. I didn't fight for her hard enough. I just gave up. That's why I arranged a meeting with Lynx tonight; I needed to talk to her._

_I had been waiting on the rooftop, concealed by shadows, for about a half an hour before Lynx finally arrived. Her movements were graceful and silent as she made her way towards me; the sway of her hips ever mesmerizing. Lynx stopped right in front of me as she removed her mask, placing it off to the side for safekeeping._

_Lynx's arms quickly wrapped around my neck as she pulled me closer, so close I could feel the warmth of her breath on my lips. I knew what was coming, but I didn't have a chance to stop her. I simply let my eyes shut as I felt her lips slide over mine. Her kiss was slow but she was in complete control. My hands instinctively made their way to her waist, resting at the small of her back and without hesitation I pulled her against me. Her scent was intoxicating; and I couldn't get enough of her. I needed to stop. We were locked in our embrace for a few moments before I pulled away._

_She licked her lips as I stepped back, leaving her at arms length. Lynx's amber orbs were staring into the whites of my cowl. It seemed like she was trying to figure out what was going through my head. She raised an eyebrow as she inquired, "Aren't you excited to see me?"_

_"We need to talk," I answered. Lynx's face fell as soon as the words left my lips. She sighed and walked over to the ledge to take a seat._

_"What is it?" Lynx asked, crossing her legs and leaning back on her hands._

_I inched closer to Lynx, never breaking eye contact. "We can't keep doing this, whatever _this _is."_

_Lynx smirked as she looked away. "It's because of _her_ isn't it?" she whispered._

_I nodded in response, knowing that she was referring to Steph. "I hurt Batgirl, and I want to make it right."_

_"So what about me?" Lynx looked up, her eyes duller than before. "What happens when you hurt me?"_

_Her question took me by surprise. I didn't even know exactly what we were. Did Lynx want a real relationship, one without masks? But how could we? She was an undercover agent and I was the "enemy". Would we have to get into a fight before each of our dates? Would we have to keep sneaking in the shadows so that her gang wouldn't find out? And if we were caught it could easily blow her cover. I couldn't do that to her. I couldn't risk her safety like that._

_"I'm sorry." I placed both hands on Lynx shoulders, as if to stabilize her. "It wouldn't work out between us."_

_Lynx simply closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about what I said. I let my hands drop from her shoulders back down to my sides. Silence filled the air as I waited for any sort of response from Lynx. When she opened her eyes, I saw the same sadness I saw in Stephanie's eyes. Lynx gave me a peck on the lips and then walked over to pick up her mask. She put it back on before jumping off the rooftop, disappearing into the night. _

* * *

I ran my hands over my face as if to force the memory away. The warm water cascaded down, washing away most of my immediate concerns. Once I finished, I stepped out of the shower, dried myself off and put on a shirt and pajama pants. Before I could lie down on my bed, I heard someone knocking on my door.

"Tim? You in there?" the visitor asked.

"You can come in, Cassie," I answered. The door opened, and I saw Cassie with a bowl of popcorn. Her blond hair was tied up and she was wearing blue yoga pants and a matching shirt.

She chuckled when she saw that my hair was still a little wet. "We had a day off and you decided to train?"

"Haha, it kinda just happened," I laughed. Cassie asked me to come back and lead the Titans. It seemed like she had some soul searching to do. _I don't blame her._

"So, I'm about to watch some TV, you interested?" Cassie offered. "Everyone else had other plans."

"Sure, sounds like fun." We made our way to the lounge and took a seat on the couch. There wasn't much on the TV so we just channel surfed and ate popcorn. I grabbed a handful of popcorn and tossed a couple pieces in my mouth. "So, where is everyone? I thought I had the Tower all to myself tonight."

"Well, Bart and Gar thought it would be a great idea to give Kiran another tour of the city and show her all their favorite places. They managed to drag Raven along with them," Cassie started. "Um, and I think Connor went out with Rose."

_Connor and Rose? _I was surprised but decided not to press the issue. "And what about you? Why aren't you out there doing something fun?"

"I actually thought I'd enjoy a quiet night in," Cassie shrugged as she continued to flick through channels.

"Yeah, a quiet night's something that I've been needing," I responded while I combed my fingers through my hair. "It's been tough in Gotham recently."

"When are you going back?" Cassie asked after she popped some more popcorn into her mouth.

"I was planning on going back later tonight. I want to surprise Stephanie while she's out on patrol," I answered.

Cassie laughed, "What do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking donuts."

* * *

When I finally dropped Steph off at Firewall, it was almost five in the morning. We spent hours on that rooftop talking and eating our donuts. It must have been a nice break after patrolling with Damian all night. When I got back to the Manor I barely managed to strip off my costume and reach my bed. It was early in the afternoon when I woke up and made my way downstairs. The Manor was completely quiet. Dick and Damian must have gone out for the day. Much to my surprise, Kara was sitting in the kitchen. She was talking to Alfred while he placed a plate onto the table, across from Kara. She was wearing jeans and a bright yellow shirt that seemed to brighten up the whole room. They noticed me as I made my way toward the table.

"Good afternoon, Master Tim. I was just about to wake you," Alfred greeted. When I reached the table I saw that there was a sandwich waiting for me.

I took a seat and Alfred topped off my glass with iced tea. "Afternoon Alfred. Thanks for the sandwich."

"Actually Sir, Miss Kara has kindly brought you lunch today." Alfred corrected. I looked over to see a huge smile on Kara's face. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm sure there's some area of the Manor that needs dusting."

"Haha, well thanks for lunch Kara. Um, not that I'm not happy to see you, but what's with the visit?" I asked.

"You know, it's been so long since we've had a chance to hang out. The last couple of times I've visited Gotham, I've only really hung out with Steph," Kara laughed as she took a sip of her iced tea. "We have some catching up to do."

I took a bite of one of the sandwich triangles and raised an eyebrow. "Really, like what?"

"Like, how come everyone's been so tense?" Kara asked. "I ran into Damian right before you woke up, and he was as serious as ever. Even Dick was a little more on edge than usual.

"It's this gang case. Everyone's been looking for weeks, but it seems like whoever's behind it all is really good at hiding," I answered, taking another bite.

"Did you guys ever figure out the connection between the dart Steph and I found and the gangs?"

"That would be a negative. Although similar darts were used by League of Assassin members, I'm not sure there's an actual connection between the League and the dart used to kill the arms dealer." It was true; I doubt the League of Assassins would waste their time taking out Gotham gang members. But it couldn't be another coincidence.

"What about Red Hood? I heard he's back in town." Kara swirled her straw absentmindedly before taking another sip.

"Yeah he is, and no one's found him yet," I answered, placing my sandwich back on my plate. "But I think I'm going to try tonight."

* * *

"Oh my God! Don't let me go!" pleaded the man I was interrogating. My grip slightly loosened around his ankle as I dangled him off of a rooftop.

"What do you know about the new gangs in Gotham," I growled. He was a member of the Golden Dragons, and the third member I interrogated tonight. Like the others, I was able to catch him on his way home, but he wasn't the person I wanted to talk to.

"I don't know anything! Please!" I could tell he was crying, an attempt to convince me of his innocence. I held the man for another minute, but he didn't say anything that could help me.

_He doesn't know anything._ I quickly threw the man on the roof as he yelled out his last plea. He landed with a loud thud and hastily got up to run away. I've been searching all night, and I haven't had any luck finding any leads that could point to the gangs or to Jason's current hideout. I grappled onto the apartment building across the street to start my search over again.

Once I landed, I heard footsteps approaching me from behind. I reached behind my back for my bo staff but a hand quickly grasped my wrist, putting me in a firm arm lock. My opponent applied some pressure on my arm as I heard his breathing quicken.

"I thought you weren't in Gotham," my attacker teased. I turned around to see Lynx, with a smile on her mask-covered face.

"I just got back yesterday. I thought you weren't talking to me?" I asked, wincing when Lynx applied more pressure to my arm.

"Couldn't be angry forever," Lynx laughed, and she let my arm go. She lifted her mask, resting it on the top of her head. She then brushed the stray strands of hair out of her face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, shaking my arm out to relieve some of the pain from Lynx's greeting. "I thought you'd still be at the warehouse."

"Had to track you down. I heard you were harassing my men."

"I needed informat-"

"Yes, yes, about the gangs," Lynx interrupted, twirling her hand to emphasize the point. "Your girlfriend and her little partner already asked."

"Thanks for cooperating with them," I answered. "But, I'm looking for the Red Hood. Have you heard anything about him?"

"Him?" Lynx reaffirmed. She looked a little distraught. "He came to the warehouse a few nights ago."

_Why'd he visit Lynx? _"What did he want?"

"He wanted to know where some mercenaries were meeting," Lynx answered. "He was with Batgirl."

_He was with Stephanie? Impossible. _"Are you sure it was Batgirl?"

"Yes, I have video surveillance from that night."

"Show me."

Running to the Golden Dragons' hideout was almost second nature to me. During our meetings, Lynx and I had to find different ways to and from the warehouse. It was almost difficult keeping up with her swift and graceful movements. Most of the Golden Dragons already went home, leaving us with the empty warehouse. Once we reached the office, Lynx sat down and started to click away on her computer. She pulled up the surveillance footage from the night that Jason visited her.

Lynx got out of her seat so I could get a closer look of the video. At first I only saw Jason seemingly talking with Lynx. But after a moment, I saw someone walk in behind him. There was no mistaking it. Stephanie was with Jason. I looked at the time the video was recorded, and realized that this was the night I left for Titans Tower.

Betrayal stabbed at my core as I finally realized why Stephanie was asking those questions about Jason. But why? It didn't make sense for them to team up.

At that moment, I heard the static across my comm link. "Red Robin? Hello?"

"Proxy? Is everything okay?" _That's weird; Wendy normally doesn't contact me during patrol._

I could hear her breathing quicken across the connection. "Batgirl's been captured!"

"I'll be right there." A dozen thoughts were racing through my mind. How did she get captured? Who could have done it? I needed to get to Firewall as soon as possible so Wendy could tell me what happened. I made my way to the door before looking back at Lynx.

Before I could leave, Lynx's hand gripped my wrist, forcing me to turn around. I glared at her, but she didn't let go. If anything, she tightened her grasp.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her concern spreading across her face. I let out a sigh to help calm myself down.

"Batgirl's been captured. I need to go find her."

"I'll help you," Lynx offered. Her grip on my wrist loosened.

"No, if you're seen with me, you could blow your cover," I reasoned. "But thank you."

I pulled away from Lynx's grasp and left her office. Grappling from building to building, I made my way to Firewall. Minutes felt like hours as I tried to figure out how Stephanie was captured and who could have done it.

Once I made it to Firewall, I ran over to the computer console and met up with Wendy. I put a hand on her shoulder and her fingers stopped typing. "Wendy, what happened?"

As Wendy turned her head, I noticed tears run down her cheeks and her breathing was erratic. "He got her, Tim. The Red Hood captured Stephanie. Now I can't locate her at all. It's like she disappeared."

"Hold on Wendy, calm down. How do you know that?" I pulled my cowl back and kneeled down so that Wendy and I were eye level.

Once Wendy's breathing calmed down, she explained, "Steph was searching for the Spoiler and Jason was helping her look."

_Who? _"Wait, who was she looking for?"

Wendy took a breath and explained everything from the beginning. Apparently, someone took on Steph's Spoiler identity and used it to stir up the gangs throughout Gotham. She was the person who arranged the mercenary meeting Jason threatened Lynx about and who caused the explosion across Leslie's clinic. What made it worse was that it seemed like this Spoiler was somehow connected to the League of Assassins. Most nights, when Steph would go out on patrol, she would be with Jason looking for clues on Spoiler's whereabouts.

I realized that I would need some help in finding Stephanie. "Wendy, can you contact Batman and Robin at the Bunker and Oracle at Kord Tower?"

"Got it," Wendy answered as she typed away. In moments, the screens lit up with the faces of our closest allies.

"Tim, what's wrong?" Dick asked.

"This better be good, Drake," Damian threatened.

"Where's Stephanie? Wasn't she on patrol?" Barbara asked.

"Give me a second guys. Where's Bruce?" I asked.

"I'm right here," Bruce answered as he walked into view alongside Dick and Damian. "What's going on, Tim?"

"Wendy just told me that Steph's been captured by Jason," I answered. Silence filled the room, allowing the news to sink in.

"How is that possible? Why would Jason target Stephanie? He doesn't even know her," Dick asked.

I was about to answer him when Damian cut me off, "That's not true Grayson. Brown and Todd have a healthy working relationship."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Barbara asked.

"It means that the Red Hood's been working with Batgirl," Damian answered.

"Wait, you knew and didn't tell us?" I yelled, infuriated that Damian didn't inform us sooner.

"You expected me to betray Stephanie's trust?" Damian asked. "She assured me she could handle herself and I believed her."

"If you told us sooner she probably wouldn't have been taken!"

"Enough!" Bruce exclaimed, taking control of the situation. "Wendy, you're the one who noticed Stephanie was missing?"

"Yes. She was with Jason looking for the Spoiler," Wendy explained. From there, she restated what she had already told me.

"So she was working with Jason to find Spoiler and figure out why she was stirring up the gangs?" Dick concluded. "But why did Jason help her?"

"This must have been his endgame," Damian answered.

"So Wendy," Barbara interjected. "How did you lose her? Is something compromising your connection to her suit?"

"I was able to track the suit for a few blocks but after a couple minutes I lost the signal," Wendy relayed. "Before I lost the connection, I was able to retrieve her interaction with Jason before she was attacked."

Wendy pulled up the audio recording she was able to save.

_"Jason, what are you doing?"_

_"I'm distracting you."_

_Whack!_

_"Good job, Scarlet."_

"So, he's still working with the girl," Damian assumed.

Anger resonated throughout my entire body. But I had to keep a level head if I wanted to find her. I directed my question to the screen, "How are we going to find her?"

"Let me and Wendy worry about that. You just be ready to go at a moment's notice," Babs answered.

"Keep us posted if you two find anything useful. Wendy send us the coordinates of Stephanie's last known location," Bruce commanded.

"Sending it now," Wendy answered.

"Alright, the four of us will start at that location and fan out to see if we can find any sort of clue as to what happened to her," Bruce affirmed. He turned to Dick and Damian, "Let's go."

I looked at the screen and could see that everyone else was feeling the same pain I was. They wanted Steph home safe and sound. I nodded at the game plan and turned to leave Firewall.

_Don't worry Steph, I'll find you. And when I find you, Jason's going to pay._


	11. Prisoner

Ch. 11 Prisoner

I pulled against the chains that restrained my arms above my head, the metal cuffs cutting off the circulation to my hands. The room was dark and completely silent. There was only a single window that let enough light in to illuminate the wall I was chained against. I was wearing my Batsuit; however my cowl was ripped back, revealing my face. I shook my head in an attempt to clear my vision, but everything remained blurry. The last thing I remembered was running on rooftops while on patrol.

With every breath I took, I smelled the metallic tang of blood throughout the room. I had to fight off my gag reflex as I took in the scent. I looked down and noticed that my utility belt was removed, meaning I had no method to contact Oracle or Batman. While I was formulating a plan for escape, I heard the door creak open and a sliver of light from the hallway slipped into the room.

The door was then quickly shut as a figure entered, hidden by the shadows. My skin started to crawl. My heart rate quickened. The specter inched closer and closer until it almost crossed into the area bathed in moonlight. Then there was a laugh that cut through the darkness like a bullet. I cringed as the room was filled with the maniacal clatter.

"So, here we are again? It looks like the Bat gave you a promotion." The figure slowly crept into sight, the moonlight from the window illuminating his features. However, I didn't need the light to know who my captor was. His ebony face and skeletal smile struck fear throughout my body.

"Oh, don't be like that. I remember we had such fun the last time we hung out," Black Mask teased as he edged closer to me. He slapped me across the face in an attempt to get a response out of me, but I managed to stifle back a scream.

I held back tears as I turned to look Black Mask in the eye. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of breaking me a second time. He grunted as he reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a scalpel. I quivered. He grabbed my right arm and pulled back the sleeve to reveal my skin. I then felt the cold metal of the scalpel against my flesh, tracing patterns lazily before finally drawing blood. I clenched my jaw to prevent myself from screaming. The pain was unbearable as he cut deeper and deeper along the length of my forearm. I gained a moment's respite when he withdrew his blade, marveling at his handiwork.

The cycle of trace, cut and admire was repeated several times. As Black Mask ran out of space on my right forearm, he moved on to my left. He took his time, relishing in the pain he was causing me. I couldn't stop the tears; they were pouring down my face at this point, but I didn't scream. It took everything in me to stay strong. I held on to the hope that somehow someone would find me.

"Well, it seems like that was boring for you. Let's try a big boy toy."

I didn't see what Black Mask was holding. I didn't have a chance to look.

_AHH! _My scream tore through the darkness, as I was forced awake from my nightmare. When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurred and my head was throbbing. I haven't had a dream like that in a while and I was trembling with fear. I tried to move my arms, but they wouldn't budge. My heartbeat quickened when I noticed that, like in my dream, I was restrained. My wrists and ankles were tied together, preventing any type of motion. The terror I felt in the nightmare resurfaced and shook me to the core.

A chill resonated throughout my body, and I realized the only article of clothing that I had to cover my underwear was Jason's leather jacket. I tried to look around for my Batsuit, but it was completely dark. My heart was racing; I didn't know where I was or how I got there. The last thing I remembered was looking for Spoiler.

_"Jason, what are you doing?"_

_"I'm distracting you."_

_Oh my God! _Everything started coming back. Jason was working with Spoiler to kidnap me. As if on cue, I heard a door open, and I was blinded when the lights turned on. When I was able to see clearly again, I realized that I must have been on some sort of business jet. I checked the other empty seats around me but my Batsuit was nowhere in sight.

A red headed girl with goggles resting on her forehead entered the room. I looked over and examined the girl. Her face looked somewhat scarred, and she was wearing the Spoiler costume. I couldn't remember her name, but I've seen pictures of her. Dick and Damian said she was Jason's partner for a while. The last time they saw her, Jason saved her life and they left Gotham.

She was carrying a bottle of water with a straw in one hand and some clothes in the other. She placed the clothes on the small foldable tray in front of me. She then presented the bottle of water to me, the straw poking my lips. I accepted the drink; the cool water relieved the irritation in my throat. I quickly finished the bottle, and the girl placed it on the tray.

"I'm going to untie you so you can change. Don't do anything stupid," Spoiler instructed. She then walked over and undid the ties on my wrists and my ankles.

I fought against my instincts to kick the girl when she finished unbinding my ankles. I had to stay calm so I could figure out where I was and how long I've been kept prisoner. _Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask questions._

"So, where are we going?" I asked. I rubbed my wrists to ease the pain from the rope.

"Can't tell you that," Spoiler answered. And like that she disappeared, back to the front of the plane.

_Well that helped. Now what do I do? _I shrugged and inspected the clothes that Spoiler gave me. The pile consisted of jeans, a shirt and a pair of sneakers, all my size. _Of course they fit. Jason probably got them for me. What a thoughtful and creepy kidnapper. _I took off the leather jacket and threw it onto another seat. I quickly got dressed before padding over to check out where Spoiler went.

I couldn't open the door that led to the cockpit. Spoiler must have locked it behind her. There was nowhere else for me to go, so I decided to go back to my seat. Time went by extremely slow. Once in a while Spoiler would come back and hand me another water bottle or some snacks, but she wouldn't stay for too long.

The next thing I knew, it felt like we were going down for a landing. I almost fell off my seat when the plane finally touched the ground. I was expecting to see Spoiler or Jason come back from the cockpit soon. However, the side door opened instead.

I was about to check it out when three men with guns ran onto the plane and made their way to me. I took up a fighting stance, ready to try and disarm them as fast as I could before they could shoot me. But the shots never came.

Then, a figure wearing Bat-like armor under Arab garments walked in. He was taller and bigger than the men he had present with him. This new guy must have been working with Jason and Spoiler. With a wave of his arm, the men made their way towards me, still aiming their weapons at me.

_Crap, I really wish I had an electro-rang or two right now. _I was about to lunge at the closest gunman when I heard two gunshots echo throughout the room. The men stopped in their tracks, and all eyes darted to the front of the plane. Jason was outside of the cockpit, still pointing his gun to the ceiling. I couldn't see his face, but I knew that under his helmet he was staring down the big guy.

"I'm responsible for her, Fatherless. Get these guards out of here," Jason commanded, now pointing his gun at the armored behemoth.

_What kind of name's Fatherless? _I shook my head. _This isn't the time to make jokes, Steph. You could very well get killed soon._

Fatherless turned to face Jason, sizing him up. I almost expected Fatherless to order the guards to attack Jason. I wasn't sure Jason's bulletproof vest could handle the three men at once. But to my surprise, Fatherless told the men to stand down.

"Get her to the holding area. Our Lady does not want to be kept waiting," Fatherless ordered, his voice sounding almost robotic. Just like that, Fatherless and the gunmen exited through the side door.

Once we were alone, Jason holstered his gun and pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his belt. My heartbeat quickened, and I instinctively retreated until I bumped into the seat.

My eyes widened, "Are those really necessary?"

"Don't make this harder than it has to be," Jason advised, his voice like ice. This wasn't the same Jason I've gotten to know.

_This is bad. Jason's blocking_ _the__ door so I can't make a run for it. Even if I could get passed him, Fatherless could still be out there with his gunmen. I definitely can't trust Jason, but he did protect me. Maybe I'll be safer if I go with him? I really hope I don't regret this. _

"Fine," I acquiesced, offering up my wrists. Jason slapped the cuffs on me and made sure they were nice and snug. Before leaving, Jason grabbed his jacket from the seat and draped it over my shoulders.

Spoiler was waiting for us outside of the cockpit and she took her spot behind me so that I was being watched at all times. When we exited the plane, we were on a field that looked like it hasn't been cared for in a while. I looked around to see if I could find any landmarks that could tell me where I was. Then it hit me. I looked up and saw something I never thought I'd have to see again. I was staring at St. Hadrian's Finishing School for Girls.

A shiver ran down my spine as we made our way from the field towards the school. It's been abandoned since Bruce and I defeated the Leviathan operatives that were stationed there. But why were we here? Were Jason and Fatherless both working for Leviathan? Instead of getting answers, I was getting more and more questions.

Once inside, Jason led me to one of the classrooms. There were two armed guards waiting outside. Jason nodded to them, and they opened the door.

"Get in," Jason commanded, moving aside so I could enter. These rooms were less cozy than I remembered. Boards were placed across the windows, most of the desks were tossed around and a thick layer of dust covered everything. It looked like I was walking into a horror movie.

"I love the five star service," I quipped as I entered yet another prison.

I didn't even get a grunt out of Jason; he just turned and walked away with Spoiler in tail. I heard the door lock behind me, making sure that I was trapped in the room. I looked out the boarded up window to see that there were other armed guards outside. Whoever wanted me here made sure that there was no chance of me escaping.

I decided to take a seat in one of the desks. I was here to meet someone and now all I had to do was wait for that person to show up. And like that, I heard the door creak open again. I recognized my captor as soon as she walked in. It was Talia al Ghul.

"Hello, Stephanie, we finally meet," Talia greeted as she entered and took a seat in the chair at the front of the room. Both Fatherless and Jason accompanied her, taking their places at Talia's flanks.

"Well, I'm not sure I'm as excited as you are," I answered, crossing my arms. Talia raised an eyebrow and her lips curled into a smirk.

"I can see why Batman has allowed you to operate as Batgirl. You have spirit," Talia continued. "I was surprised that it was you who helped him bring down St. Hadrian's."

"Is this what this is about? You want revenge on me for shutting your school down?" I asked.

"Revenge is only one of the reasons why I have brought you here," Talia started. "You've done me a great disservice Stephanie Brown. You've corrupted my son."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked. What did she mean I "corrupted" Damian?

"Damian was trained by the League of Assassins to be a warrior. But it seems that his time in Gotham has made him soft," Talia answered. "I would hate to see all of the effort in training him wasted."

I was completely blindsided. How could she say those things about Damian? I don't think she had a single maternal bone in her body. I couldn't take it anymore.

"What kind of mother are you?" I yelled as I stood up. "Is that all Damian is to you? An investment? He never had a regular childhood. He never learned how to play. Are you that heartless of a bitch that you can't even let him have a shred of normalcy?"

Before I could react, Fatherless charged toward me and had a hand around my throat. "You dare insult Lady Talia! You insolent fool; Lady Talia has graced you with her presence and you dare insult her! I should crush you right here."

His grip was tight, and I couldn't rip his hand from my neck. He was so strong that he was lifting me off the ground, my legs dangling aimlessly. I could barely breathe, let alone try to fight him off. From the corner of my eye I saw Jason draw both of his guns and aimed them Fatherless.

"Let her go, now." Jason growled.

"You protect her?" Fatherless asked. "That is something I would expect from a traitor."

"Enough, Fatherless. Release her," Talia commanded.

"But, Lady Talia," Fatherless questioned.

Talia shot him a look, "You forget your place, Fatherless. I did not give you permission to attack Stephanie Brown. You will release her immediately."

I could feel the pressure on my throat lessen as I was released from Fatherless' grasp. I fell back onto the desk, gasping for air.

"You are dismissed Fatherless," Talia ordered. "You will receive your punishment later."

Even under his armor, I could tell that Fatherless was angry. It was obvious that he wasn't my biggest fan either. He bowed to Talia and stormed out of the room. Jason then holstered his weapons and was at my side, his hand was rubbing circles on my back.

I was surprised. This was the kindest I've seen Jason since he attacked me. _But I wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for him._ After he was certain I was okay, Jason retreated and took his spot back by Talia's side.

"I do sincerely apologize, Stephanie. You were not supposed to be harmed," Talia said.

"Yeah right," I coughed.

Talia then got up and made her way to the door, "Jason, take Stephanie to her room. We shall continue this conversation later."

I was still trying to ease the pain from my throat when Jason grabbed me at the elbow and tugged me along. We walked through the different hallways that eventually led to the dorms. Our trip was dead silent; I couldn't even hear Jason breathing. When we turned a corner, two guards and Spoiler were waiting for us in front of one of the rooms. Spoiler had changed, reverting back to her original costume. _So, I wonder what I get to call her now?_

Jason turned to Spoiler, "Scarlet, you're going to stay with Stephanie for a while."

She nodded and opened the door and motioned for me to go in. Once inside, the guards locked the door behind us. The room looked exactly like it did when I was undercover. Scarlet took a seat on one of the chairs across the bed.

"You might as well get comfortable. They're keeping you here for a while," Scarlet said.

I was trapped. There was no possible way for me to escape this without getting caught, especially with Scarlet in the room and guards outside the doors and windows. _I need to figure out what's actually going on._

I took a seat on the bed, and made eye contact with Scarlet. "So, your name's Scarlet?"

She mulled over my question for a few seconds before answering. "That's my code name. You don't need to know my real name."

"Okay, then. Why are you working for Leviathan?" I interrogated.

"I'm not a part of Leviathan," Scarlet replied.

"Wait, then why are you here?" I questioned.

"I'm Jason's partner, that's why." She looked mad, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't press on.

"But why is he helping Talia?" I pushed.

"I don't know," Scarlet admitted. "Wouldn't tell you if I did."

_Well then, Jason and I need to have a chat real soon._

* * *

The next couple of days passed without much going on. Everyday Scarlet would watch over me, but she was horrible company. I tried to make small talk, but most of the time she'd just grunt. I was slowly going insane with all of the waiting I was doing.

The nights weren't that great either. I've been having the same nightmare since I've been captured. Being scared awake, drenched in sweat every night was horrible.

I haven't been allowed to leave the room yet. Meals were brought to me, and this room had a personal bathroom. What was really bothering me was the fact that I haven't seen Jason around at all.

_Was everything a lie? Was Jason behind all of the gangs? Did he pretend to like me so he could mess with my head? _All of those questions reverberated through my mind as I wasted away in the room. I had to find out the truth, but Scarlet wasn't talking. It seemed like she was completely loyal to Jason. _I wonder what he did to deserve her undying devotion._

It was on the third day when Jason finally decided to grace me with his presence. I was sitting cross-legged on the bed while staring at my fingernails when I heard the door open. It was lunchtime and normally one of the guards brought in my meal. But today, Jason walked in with my tray of food. Scarlet must have known he was coming because she quickly slipped out of the room and left us alone.

Jason placed the tray on the foot of the bed, making sure not to spill any of the contents. He took a spot at the edge of the bed, hunching forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He must have been thinking about what he wanted to say. I wasn't going to be the one to break the awkward silence.

"Steph…" Jason started, his voice filled with conflict.

"If you're going to talk to me, the least you could do is take off your helmet," I spat.

Jason sighed as he brought his hands up to his helmet, a hiss accompanying its unlocking. He placed his helmet to the side and shook out his hair. He looked horrible. There were bags under his eyes, and it looked like he hasn't slept in days.

Jason was silent again, as if losing his helmet also caused him to lose his nerve. He just sat there, staring at the tray of food that he placed next to me.

"Why'd you do it, Jason?" I finally asked. "Why the hell did you kidnap me?"

Moments passed before Jason turned to me, his eyes filled with sorrow. "Because if I didn't, you'd be dead."


	12. Choices

Ch. 12 Choices

The Jason Todd Chapter

"What… what are you talking about?" Stephanie stuttered, her eyes widening.

Steph's been held captive for three days and it was definitely starting to show. She looked tired and Sasha told me that she hasn't gotten much sleep. I took a breath as I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Look, all I can tell you is that you're safer because I kidnapped you," I sighed. It was hard enough coming here and telling her this, but there was this look in her eye that made me think I was the worst human being on the planet.

She took a few minutes to gather her thoughts before her ocean blue eyes connected with mine. "So, you think this makes everything better?"

"No I don't," I said as I turned to face Steph. "I just wanted you to know that this was the only thing I could have done to keep you safe."

"Keep _me _safe? What about the other people who died because of the gangs? Could you have kept _them_ safe?" Steph yelled, now leaning forward on her knees.

"Every single person who died had it coming," I explained.

"What are you talking about? The gangs killed at least a dozen people, and you're telling me they all had it coming!"

"Gotham's filled with drug dealers, gangsters, pimps and other scum that take advantage of the weak. Many times their victims don't get to speak up. Most of the time those monsters don't get caught. I used the gangs to take them out."

"What do you mean you 'used' them? I thought Spoiler led the gangs?" Steph asked. Her face paled at her realization.

I stood up, never breaking eye contact. "I had Scarlet use the Spoiler identity and rally together the smaller gangs in Gotham. After she gained their obedience, it was easy for me to manipulate them. Every heist, every murder, every drug deal was part of my plan. No innocents were hurt, and everyone who was guilty got what was coming to them."

"What the hell Jason!" Steph yelled. She moved from the bed and was standing in front of me, with her hands thrown up. "If you knew about these people, you could have told me! I could have told Batman about them and we could have taken them down!"

"Batman's not the only one who uses fear to get what he wants!" I was literally inches away from her face. I could feel her breath on my lips and I relished the blush that crept onto her skin. "Why do you think they haven't been caught? They terrorized their families daily and no one knew about it!"

Steph was speechless. It looked as if she was chewing on her cheek, trying to think of something to say to me.

"You wanna know how I found out?" I continued. "I was at the arcade playing with the kids and one of them was crying. He wasn't from the orphanage; I've never seen him at the arcade before. When I asked him why he was crying, he told me that his dad was beating his mom again."

"Oh my God," Steph whispered.

"That night, I found out where that kid lived and saw his drunk father complaining about dinner. The hand was raised, ready to slap her. The kid was right there! He was about to see his dad hit his mom over dinner. I didn't give him that chance." I paused and let what I said sink in. "I knew there were more of guys like him around Gotham and I had to do something about it."

"You killed that kid's father! Don't you feel any sort of remorse from taking a life?" Steph asked, as she balled her hands into fists.

"No, I did Gotham a favor," I said as I grabbed my helmet and placed it on my head. I turned to Steph before exiting her room. "Like I said, they got what they deserved."

_That went well. Good job Jason, instead of making her understand; Steph probably hates your guts more than ever._

Sasha was waiting for me outside. "Are you sure it was a good idea to tell her all that stuff?"

"Yeah, she deserves to know at least a bit of the truth. Give her some time to cool down before you go inside again." I placed a hand on Sasha's shoulder and she nodded in response.

I was exhausted. I spent the past couple days running errands for Talia, which was crazy because I wasn't even a member of Leviathan. But, she didn't really trust the other members to get the job done. They were just lackeys, expendable manpower.

As soon as I got to my room, I began stripping off my costume. I placed my helmet, bulletproof vest and shoulder holster on the desk. Everything else was thrown on the ground. It took a minute for the shower to finally get warm, more than enough time for my mind to drift off.

I kept thinking about the first night we brought Steph back to St. Hadrian's. I couldn't believe that Fatherless acted on his own like that. Just what the hell was he? Talia hasn't explained much since we came into contact again.

In reality, I never expected Talia's call. We haven't spoken in a while, but her funds were still what helped me keep up with Bruce. She contacted me out of the blue and asked if I could return to Gotham to keep an eye on Batgirl for her. At the time I didn't even know Stephanie existed, let alone was Batgirl. How could I refuse her?

I ran into Stephanie about a week after I returned to Gotham. She got pretty banged up fighting some thugs. I killed them and decided to patch her up. I didn't know Talia's plan, so I thought it was best to keep Steph alive. Besides, I was curious.

But who would have thought that I would have ended up going on a date with Stephanie Brown? Every expectation I had was blown away. She was a beautiful, smart and strong-willed girl who could hold her own in a fight. What wasn't there to like?

I could tell that she had a good time on our date and deep down, I was glad. There wasn't a moment where I didn't enjoy hearing her voice or talking to her about stupid stuff. It almost felt like I was living a normal life.

When I finally took her home, I made my move. The atmosphere was electric as our eyes met and I pulled her in for the kiss. Seconds passed like hours. I was absolutely overwhelmed and intoxicated by Stephanie. Everything about that moment felt like complete bliss. We stood there, completely disregarded by the world. The feeling of her lips moving against mine was enough to make the hurt go away. It took everything I had to pull back before I lost control. Walking away from that doorstep was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. That night wasn't enough, I was insatiable.

But any chance of feeling like that again was cut short when Steph picked Tim over me. I tried to win her over, but she was completely devoted to Tim. Every time I tried, she'd pull away. To be honest, it hurt. I guess I wasn't good enough to be her first choice, no matter how hard I tried._ Well isn't that the story of my life?_

I stood in the shower until the warm water ran out. A chill ran down my spine as I stepped onto the tile floor. I quickly dried myself off and wrapped the towel around my waist. When I walked into my room, she was there.

"Hello, Jason. I was hoping we could talk," Talia greeted. She was wearing a white button down shirt with black pants and was leaning against the desk where I placed most of my Red Hood gear.

"What do we need to talk about?" I answered, fastening my grip around the knot of my towel.

"Stephanie Brown. You seem to be really attached to her."

"Why would you think that?"

"Do not play me for a fool, Jason. Why else would you contact me and beg for the chance to help? You spent a great deal of time and money organizing a gang to terrorize Gotham simply to get closer to her," Talia said, crossing her arms.

"I used the gang to help rid Gotham of some scum," I explained. "Besides, it made it easier for us to capture her!"

"Jason, I did not want Stephanie Brown captured. I wanted her dead," Talia reprimanded. "But, do you know why I allowed her to live?"

"Because I'm very persuasive?" I quipped. I was rummaging through my bag to look for clothes when Talia spoke again.

"No. I spared Stephanie Brown, because I knew that you were in love with her," Talia answered.

I instantly stopped my searching and turned back to Talia. Her eyes were peering deeper than most people ever got out of me. It caused something to snap and everything just came out. "But it isn't enough. Can't you tell? She doesn't love me back."

Her face softened. She could recognize the pain that tore through me. Talia stepped towards me and placed a hand on my cheek. "You do not deserve such loneliness and heartbreak, Jason. Not when you have been through so much already."

A single tear escaped my eye. I tried to turn away in an attempt to hide the droplet, but Talia didn't let me. Her hand kept my face steady so our eye contact wasn't broken. She knew what I was feeling all too well. She was right; I was lonely. I never thought I could fall in love, not after going down this path. Not after crossing the line.

The thing about unrequited love is that it leaves you feeling empty. And right now there was only one thing I could think of that could fill the void. My heart quickened as I took in a breath. I wrapped my hands around Talia's waist and pulled her closer. And before she could say anything, I kissed her.

She was surprised at first, but then she returned my kiss. I closed my eyes as I inhaled Talia's scent. She moved her hand from my cheek and threaded her fingers in my hair. My hands made their way to the buttons of her shirt as I felt a quick tug at my towel before it came undone and pooled at my feet. Talia then pushed me so that the back of my knees hit the bed and I fell back.

_Tonight, I wasn't alone. _

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, Talia was gone. I stretched and made my way to the bathroom to wash up. It was almost lunchtime and I thought it would be a good idea to try talking with Steph again.

I slipped into my jeans and pulled on a long sleeved shirt. Then came my boots, gloves, bulletproof vest and shoulder holster. I put on my helmet and left for the cafeteria. Most of the guardsmen were concentrated around the school grounds, so I didn't run into many people in the halls.

When I walked into the cafeteria I realized that the entire room was filled with Talia's men. _How many men did Talia bring here? Was she preparing for war? _I quickly got up and got Steph's meal. To be honest, the food didn't look that appetizing.

The guards stationed at Steph's room noticed me and opened the door. Like yesterday, Steph was lying back and staring at the ceiling while Sasha was reclining in the chair. Sasha realized that I entered the room and quickly got up. I nodded my thanks as she left the room.

Steph also sat up when she noticed I was visiting. I heard her groan when I placed the tray on the table.

"Y'know, I'm starting to think they're trying to kill me slowly with that food," Steph joked, throwing a disgusted look at the tray.

I smirked as I took off my helmet. Steph was definitely in better spirits today. "Well if that's the case, we're both done for."

Steph laughed, "So what brings you here?"

"Well, I seem to have a knack for leaving my clothes with you," I answered. "I've been getting kinda cold without my jacket."

"About that…" Steph started. "Did you know there was a box in your pocket?"

_Crap, she found it. Oh well._

"Yeah, well that's actually why I came by," I said as I walked over to my jacket. I grabbed the box and opened it. "I was going to give this to you, y'know before I kidnapped you."

"Jason, what are you…"

Once the lid was off, I sat down on the bed and presented her the box's contents. It was the glass robin that she was staring at a while back. "I got this for you, I thought you'd like it."

Steph was definitely surprised. Her eyes widened as her lips parted ever so slightly. She accepted the robin and raised it towards the window. She held the ornament so that the light hit it perfectly and smaller rays broke off from the glass. She just sat there, enthralled by the robin's simple elegance.

This was the most at ease I've seen Steph the past couple of days. She was suddenly full of energy. Her eyes seemed to shine in the light and they radiated warmth comparable to the sun. She looked absolutely stunning. I couldn't resist sliding a bit closer to her. Feeling her breath on my face caused goose bumps to ripple across my skin.

Finally, a smile spread across her lips as she placed the robin in her lap and turned back to me. "Jason, you didn't have to get this for me."

"C'mon Steph, I saw the way you were eyeing it. Besides, it felt right," I answered as I closed another inch between us.

"Honestly, thank you. It means a lot," Steph said as she combed a stray strand of her blond hair behind her ear.

_Well, it's now or never. _I took in a breath and gathered my thoughts.

"Steph," I coughed. "I know that you're happy with Tim; and that you're only in this mess because of me. But, I just wanted you to know… I _needed_ you to know that I really do care about you."

I covered her free hand in mine. We locked eyes and I noticed the pained look on her face. I didn't come here to make her feel bad, but it was exactly what ended up happening.

Before I could say anything else, I heard someone pounding from outside. Then, one of the guardsmen opened the door and addressed me. "Red Hood, Lady Talia wishes to see you."

"Damn," I cursed. _Of course she needs me now._

I grunted in response as I went to grab my helmet. The next thing I knew, I felt Steph's hand on my wrist. I could see tears begin to form behind those beautiful blue eyes. I raised my hand to cup her cheek as I used my thumb to wipe away the first teardrop. Her mouth opened, as if to say something, but nothing came.

I pressed my forehead against hers before getting up from the bed. I put on my helmet as I walked towards the door. But before I could leave the room, Steph called out to me.

"Jason," Steph whispered. "I'm sorry…"

_She was sorry? I kidnapped her and she was sorry? _Guilt ate away at me as I nodded and turned to leave the room.

I made my way to the designated meeting room where Talia was sitting behind the desk. She was business as usual and nodded as I approached. Judging by the furniture, this room was probably the headmistress's office.

"Hello, Jason," Talia greeted.

"Talia," I answered. "Look, about last night..."

Talia raised her hand to cut me off. She looked serious and I knew that she didn't want to compare notes.

"We will have to discuss our sleeping arrangements later, Jason. We have more pressing matters at hand," Talia said. "I'm sure you've noticed the increase of men around the school. We are currently preparing for battle. Since you are not part of Leviathan, you may not wish to be here when we are inevitably attacked."

I was surprised; I didn't expect anyone to know where we were. "Who are you expecting to attack you?" I asked.

"These men are to greet Batman when he finally comes to rescue Stephanie," Talia smirked.

A chill ran down my spine. "How would they know that she was here?"

"Because I just leaked the information," Talia answered. "It must have reached them by now."

"But why?" I asked as I raised my arms. "What was the point of kidnapping her if you were going to tell them where she was?"

"Remember, the kidnapping was for your benefit," Talia answered. "But now I need to further my agenda and I will use Stephanie as bait."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Then what's going to happen to Steph?"

"Once the battle begins, there is no way to be completely sure." Talia replied.

"If that's the case, I'm not leaving," I declared. There was no way I was leaving Steph. _I kidnapped her to protect her, and now she's being used as bait. This has to stop._

"Suit yourself, Jason," Talia dismissed. "Just be ready for the consequences of your decisions."

_I think I can live with my choice. _


End file.
